Extreme Ways
by Muse-icfan756
Summary: Sequel to Sunset and Evening Shadows. Amy runs to live in London with Adrian and Becca, trying to escape the life she is destined for. 'Extreme worlds alone, did you ever like it then' - Moby
1. Chapter 1 Mystery

**Here goes with the first chapter **

_So this is how I become a true Hathaway_, I thought to myself. I made a little checklist in my head as I walked back to the cheap hotel where I'd been staying for £5 a night for the past couple of weeks.

Run away? Check

Brushed away everyone else? Check

Messed-up love life? Check

Totally Badass...Check

I'd been roaming the streets of London since I'd snuck out of the hotel we'd been staying in my home town, leaving behind the people I've only known for half a year yet felt so close to. Lissa, the head of St. Vlad's, and her boyfriend Christian. Rose, my newly-discovered kick-ass sister, and her man Dimitri. All my old friends and family, and, of course, Lewis.

That last one hurt me the most. Lewis and I had been really close, but our relationship hadn't been going so well recently, as I'd presumed he was jealous that I was hanging out with another guy. Now I realised he just wanted to protect me, and quite rightly. I'd never thought we'd run into Strigoi on the edge of a cliff in Essex, but, hey ho, take life as it comes right? Hah. I'd _never_ been that optimistic, not even before all of this crap happened to me.

I hugged my arms around me against the breeze. We'd had an oddly warm summer for England, reaching 30 degrees! **(Celsius) **Now, as we crawled into September, the ever-present clouds began to show their faces again. We dropped from 24 down to 15 within a day. There was the England I knew and, kinda, loved.

I only had half a mile to go to the hotel. I'd only managed to pocket £600 from my old paper delivery round bank account plus another £100 from my Mum secretly before I left, so I'd faked my age as 16 and got myself a part-time job at a local footwear store. I didn't earn the best money, but at least it gave me enough to survive. My amounts had been slowly dwindling.

However, as I rounded the corner, I ran into a tall girl with fiery hair and green eyes. I almost mistook her for a Moroi, but she didn't have any fangs. I let out a sigh of relief and walked past her. I couldn't afford to have any Moroi or dhampirs notice me. I'd be reported to the guardians and dragged back to the Academy, only to be expelled again. I had a feeling Lissa wouldn't be too lenient this time.

"Hey!" Somebody called. I continued walked. "Hey!" I felt a hand on my shoulder and whirled around, my hand automatically reaching for the stake that I stashed in my pocket. But it was just the redheaded girl. "What are you doing out here?"

"Excuse me?" I asked in outrage.

"What are you doing out here?"

"What are _you_ doing out here?" She narrowed her eyes at me and I could've sworn I'd seen that look somewhere before.

"I don't like smartasses."

"Then you're gonna hate me."

"I already do." That caught me off guard.

"You don't even know who I am!" I exclaimed.

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do. I bet I could still take you in a fight." Who had taken me in a fight before? I laughed.

"I doubt it." Then, narrowing my eyes, I told her menacingly, "You don't know who You're messing with."

"Oh, I think I do," she replied simply. That did it.

My fist snapped out and I punched her right in the middle of her pretty face.

**So, what do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2 Apartment

**Thanks for the support guys! I think this story is going to be better than the other two, and I have a more detailed plotline this time, so it'll probably be almost twice as long! Don't know whether that pleases you or not, but hey ho, read on!**

"Ow!" she shrieked. "You bitch, you broke my nose _again_!" It took me a second to register that. Again? Whose nose had I broken before? It could only be...

"Becca?" I asked, shocked.

"Well done. Honestly, Amy, you don't change do you?" I shrugged, not bothering to help her as she rubbed her nose that was bleeding heavily. She grabbed a tissue from her pocket and pinched her nose. Whether it was to stop the bleeding or crying, I didn't know. She mumbled something through the tissue that sounded like, "I'm gonna have to get Adrian to heal this."

"I'm sorry, did you say get _Adrian_ to _heal_ it."

"Yep. Didn't you know he was a spirit user? I thought your oh-so-brilliant mentor told you everything."

"She did. I was just surprised that, you know, you and Adrian just _happen_ to be in London together whilst the Academy holidays have _finished_."

"Oh, will you shut up and let me explain?"

"Please do."

"I'll explain when we get back to the house. I need to fix the nose that you cleverly broke," she huffed. I sighed, crossed my arms over my chest, and followed her. She led us down some alleyways and stuff until we reached the Thames. We walked alongside in silence and I listened to the sounds of cars going by. Becca pulled out a ring of keys from her pocket an unlocked a door. I gaped at her.

"Are you serious?" I asked aghast. She turned to me and raised her eyebrows.

"Well, where else would Adrian stay, hmm?" True. We went inside and I'd never seen anything so modern and luxurious in my life! It was all glamorous, with leather sofas and chandeliers. That was just the foyer! We got in the lift and Becca jabbed one of the buttons. I stared in amazement. The bell pinged as we reached the top and she unlocked the door to the penthouse flat. I stepped inside and heard my footsteps echo as they came into contact with the vinyl flooring. I gasped as I took in the sights around me. The leather sofas were covered in plush cushions and the TV was a flatscreen. The vinyl was swapped for a thick cream carpet as it reached the sofa area and there was a stripy rug under a shiny wooden coffee table. I turned to Becca and said dryly, "You know, for someone who's supposed to be keeping out of the way, you're being a bit conspicuous."

"Hey do you know we're trying to get away?" she asked me, standing in a defensive position.

"Uh, you and Adrian are living in the middle of London during school weeks. It kind of makes sense."

"Well, what are _you_ doing out here?"

"It's none of your business," I mumbled. She raised an eyebrow but said no more, as a man with black hair and emerald green eyes walked in.

"Do you think I should conceal the eyes?" he asked Becca. "They kind of give me away."

"I think you should be less handsome," she giggled. "You look too much like your normal self."

"Adrian?" I gasped. He took a ring off of his finger and waved at me. His appearance changed to his normal self. I gaped.

"Amy? What are you doing here?" he wondered.

"I ran into Becca in the streets."

"Becca! I told you to try and avoid any of our kind at all costs." Exactly what I'd been thinking.

"Sorry," she muttered, "but look at my nose." He turned to her, only seeming to notice her properly for the first time.

"Jesus! What did you do?" Becca pointed an accusatory finger at me.

"She punched me."

"Hey!" I defended myself. "You were out of order. I punch anyone that gets in my way these days. I have to be careful too, you know." Adrian put his hands on Adrian and Becca's nose straightened up. She went to get him a glass of water whilst Adrian plonked himself of the sofa. I slipped off my shoes and joined him, sinking my feet into the soft carpet. Becca came back and her disguise had dropped. She was still the perfect blonde that I remembered. Dammit. I preferred her without those glossy locks.

"Why?" Adrian asked at last, as she snuggled closer to him. They were so totally in love. It was a bit odd, a fifteen year old girl and her twenty-two year old art teacher but, then again, it was the same with Rose and Dimitri.

I resisted the urge to slap myself. _Stop thinking about them!_ I urged myself.

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

**There's a picture of the apartment of my website: www(dot)wix(dot)com/pi_giraffe/lissasguardian756 I was told that they sell for several million pounds!**


	3. Chapter 3 Explanation

"Go on then," Becca urged. "Tell us."

"You tell me first," I demanded stubbornly. Adrian sighed but Becca's eyes twinkled.

"Basically, the first time I ever saw Becca was a couple of weeks before the end of term. She'd come into one of my classes, apparently to spoil your book," Adrian told me. Becca glared it him and I gasped.

"You bitch!" She shrugged and Adrian continued.

"I managed to convince her not to, which involved a lot of grabbing hold of her shoulders. And, well, it was just like that." He clicked his fingers. "I knew she was the one." They looked at each other with gooey eyes and I resisted the urge to gag. I'd never been like that.

"How romantic," I muttered dryly.

"Oh, it was!" Becca gushed. "Adrian was so heroic! We knew we wouldn't be accepted in the Moroi society, so we escaped at the end of the year and came to live here. We thought it'd be the last place they looked and we could mix in with the humans. Besides," she added, "I've always wanted to go to London." I frowned.

"So, basically, you came to London, apparently 'the safest place', completely forgetting that R-Rose, Dimitri," I choked out their names, "and the rest of us were about 20 miles away."

"Yeah, pretty much. What happened to them anyway?" I glanced down at my feet, my fingers absentmindedly twiddling a strand that was coming loose from my shirt.

"Well, I, um, I left them."

"Left them?" the both exclaimed, and Adrian asked, "As in, you escaped and ran away? Or got lost?"

"Of course I didn't get lost! I ran away."

"What happened to you going to be the next amazing guardian? What happened to you and Lewis?" I raised my eyebrows and Becca explained,

"Word spreads fast around teachers too."

"Well, I couldn't take it anymore. I don't know. I guess, just being there, in my hometown, was reminding me of the life I could've had, and then we found out about these adopted dhampirs and how some of them never find out who they really were. And, well, Lewis was..." _Was what?_ I thought to myself. At the time I just thought he'd been an overprotective, jealous jerk, but now I realised his protectiveness was necessary. "Well, I mean, I..." Adrian raised an eyebrow at my inability to speak and I mumbled, "just left."

"So, you're just out here alone?" Becca wondered. I nodded feebly and she gave an exasperated sigh. "Where have you been staying?"

"In some cheap hotel. Five quid a night."

"Five quid a night? Is that all you can afford?"

"I've been living there for weeks! This is just the money I got from my paper round."

"_Paper round_?" she snorted. "Well, now that that's cleared up, seeing as you've run away too, I guess you have no reason to rat us out." She got up and ushered me towards the door. "Goodbye. Not so nice seeing you." She opened the door and stepped out. Just before she was about to shut it, she yelled, "Don't break my nose again, bitch!" I felt myself shaking with anger.

"Wait, Amy!" Adrian called. I turned towards the door and saw them muttering together. Adrian was pleading with something Becca really didn't like the sound of. He brought me back in. "Look, why don't you stay with us?"

"Excuse me?" I spluttered.

"Stay with us. We have no problems with another person." Becca coughed conspicuously.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course."

"Wow, I mean...Thanks."

"Do you have stuff you want to get?" I shook my head and pointed to the rucksack that was carrying all my stuff.

"I keep it with me just in case I have to move quickly."

"Oh. Good idea. Well, I guess you can share Becca's room.."

"WHAT?" she exploded. "There is NO WAY I am sharing my room with _her_."

"I'm not too happy about it either, bitch, but it looks like we're going to have to."

"Why should I let you?" Her voice was low and dangerous, but it was no match for me. I made mine as menacing as possible.

"Because I'm the one that's gonna kick your ass and anybody else's if you don't." She shuddered. I raised my voice, "Well, I guess this means that I'm technically your guardian now." I felt a sudden swell of pride at the word, as well as sickening feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

Adrian grinned, "You sound so much like Rose when you do that." The pride disappeared but the sickness spread. I felt a crushing wave of guilt as he said her name. My sister. I'd betrayed them all. Foolishly run away, slipped from their grasps. Adrian seemed to noticed my face fall, "Amy, are you really okay?" I nodded shakily, grabbing my bag.

"I'm, uh, going to unpack and...stuff," I choked out, my voice thick with emotion. I walked towards the back of the house, and I could feel their gazes boring into my back.

"Where the hell is she going?" Becca hissed.

"I think she needs some time alone," Adrian murmured. It was silent, as if they knew I was listening. I paused at the end of the hallway, straining my ears. "She's been through a lot, this girl." Becca huffed.

"She'd better not ruing anything in my room." I sighed inaudibly. How the hell was I going to survive this?


	4. Chapter 4 Empty

The door was covered in girly things saying 'Becca's room! KEEP OUT!' They made me feel even worse staying with her, but it was nice to know that she wouldn't be doing any funny business with Adrian. And I'd never realised how immature she was. Stickers on a door.

I went in and found a double bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by dressers that were covered in make-up. There was an en-suite bathroom with the door hanging open and the floor was cluttered with magazines and other crap. I sighed. It wasn't like I could share a bed with Becca. I certainly didn't _want_ to, and I knew she wouldn't let me. This was going to be hard enough as it was. I found her cupboard and pulled out a few old blankets, clearing a space on the floor and spreading them out like a bed. I trudged to the bathroom, placing my few toiletries on the side where they wouldn't take up too much space. I stole a few of Becca's empty hangers to hang up the few clothes I had, before ripping a page out of one of her magazines to make a divider between clothes. Not that she would wear my clothes anyway, but the magazine was a few months old.

I'd almost finished unpacking my pack, when my purse fell out, money tumbling from it and scattered around the floor. I scrambled to the floor, picking up the gold coins with the Queen's head on and a few spare dollars that I would hopefully never have to use again. I placed them back into my purse and was about to close it, when I saw the picture stuffed in the front compartment where the little plastic bit is. It was a picture of Lewis and I taken on one of the warm summer days before the end of year. The sun was reflecting off our hair, turning his golden and highlighting the reddish tinge in mine. We were both grinning at the camera, although I could see that Lewis was distracted by something. Me. His emerald eyes were full of that love and passion I'd grown so used to. I bit my lip and pulled out the photo, only to find a stash of others behind it. The next picture was of Jill and I before one of the few school dances that we went to. Jill's jade eyes were accented by the light dress she wore, and we'd managed to curl her frizzy hair so that it looked more controlled. She was so much taller than me, even though I was five foot five now, and smiled as she held the camera out in front of us. Our faces were slightly cut off by the funny angle and we were both pulling stupid faces. The next picture was of Rose, Dimitri and I before one training. Lewis had snuck up on us with a camera, so Rose was giving Dimitri the gooey eyes. He grinned at her, the only person noticing that I was sneaking up behind her with a mischievous grin on my face. The photo captured the very essence of the moment, just before I leapt into the air and pretended to choke Rose from the back. Dimitri and Lewis had burst into spasms of laughter, giving away hi presence, whilst Rose whipped out her stake and tried to kill me. An entertaining experience at the very least. The next picture reminded me of why I had left. There were four of us: in the edge was Saffi, her golden hair reaching to her knees, laughing hysterically as per usual. She was such a crazy nutjob, but that was why we loved her. Then was Ellen. Her curly hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, her kilt at her knees, and she was grinning at Saffi and I. I was next, pulling a stupid face at the camera. I remembered previously telling Saffi that I'd yelled obscenities at this teacher (even though I really hadn't-I was just trying to make her laugh for the photo). Leah was beside me, her pale face framed by black hair and those piercing eyes staring me down even through the picture. She looked so much like Christian it was painful. There was also a picture that sent pangs in my heart; my 'Mum' and 'brother' Sam laughing at me behind the camera. I suddenly longed for my mother, to tell me what I'd done wrong. Why it was wrong. I'd had a call from Ellen a couple of weeks back, but I'd told her that I'd run away and she couldn't tell anybody. She hadn't spoken to me since, but I knew it was for the best. If 'Mum' found out, she'd alert the Academy, not like they didn't already know.

I was just stuffing the pictures back when a piece of white poke out from behind them. I hadn't noticed it before and opened it curiously. The page was about A4 sized, folded so many times that crease lines were completely covering it. There were three pictures on it. The first picture, in the top left corner, was the picture of Lewis and I I'd seen earlier. The one in the top right was a picture of us before the same dance that Jill and I had been to in the earlier photo. I was wearing the same red dress I'd been wearing that first dance and my hair had been brushed to perfection-by Jill, obviously. Lewis stood beside me, looking dashing in a black tux suit. We gripped each other's hands and were smiling at each other. The next picture was probably another secret by Jill. Lewis and I were sat on one of the benches around campus. It was almost curfew, so the sun was rising behind us, streaking the sky with colour, and big ball of flame rising higher above our heads and casting a chestnut halo around my head. I looked into Lewis eyes, my face partially obscured by a large lock of hair. He brushing it behind my ear tentatively and leaning forward to me. It was the most beautiful picture I'd ever seen. In the bottom right, there was a scrawly note. I recognised Lewis' handwriting and took a deep breath before reading on.

_My lovely Amy,_

_Our Second First Kiss_

_We dwell on the past, while living the present  
>But I admit, the past was unpleasant<br>Full of ups and downs, less pleasure more pain  
>We wished for the sun, but only got rain<br>We both made mistakes, put pain in our hearts  
>But here we are again, promising to never part<br>Counting our blessings and letting go of the past  
>Starting all over and making it last<br>Feelings and memories flow deep in my mind  
>Of those days our love was genuine and kind<br>Holding you close, feeling your skin  
>You look into my eyes and make my head spin<br>Those feelings are back, but stronger than ever  
>I know you're the one I wanna hold on to forever<br>We both smile again, nothing's better than this  
>Kissing you again was like our second first kiss.<em>

_- Giselle Simental –_

_Mon c__œ__ur s'ouvre a ta voix_

_Yours forever,_

_Lewis_

_Xxxxx_

I hadn't realised I was crying until my tears fell onto the page, making splats. I hurried placed it down beside me and rummaged through my bag until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out the material, more ripped pieces of white than a dress, stained with my blood and tainted by dirt. I held it up in front of me and then buried my face in it, weeping. It smelt like Lewis.

**I hope you like this chapter! LOL, today I joined a Russian club! **


	5. Chapter 5 Idiots

**Oh, just a quick AN: dancer101202303, please don't hate me :P**

I didn't know how long I was crying into what was left of my dress. It was one of those things that made you completely lose track of who and where you are. I was only broken out of it when the door creaked open. I glanced up and Becca poked her head in curiously. I could barely imagine what she could see. My hair was a mess and the wetness was drying on my tear-streaked face. I felt God-awful. She walked slowly towards me and sat on the bed beside me. It didn't even move with her weight. To my surprise, she put a light arm around my shoulders.

"Amy," she began tentatively. "Are you okay?" I didn't answer. It was a stupid question anyway. "Is it...is it...oh." She must have noticed what had happened. "Look, it's not your fault, okay?"

"It is," I moaned. "It's all my fault. I left on purpose."

"But, you were sick and tired of that place. I understand. It's a horrible life, ours."

"What would _you_ know? You're just a little Moroi, living alone with the man you love."

"Amy, I may not have to kill Strigoi for a living but, honestly, my life is a pretty big pile of crap as it is. At least Lewis," I flinched, "isn't your 21-year-old teacher. At least your love life is accepted." I sighed. I never would've thought I'd be sat in the middle of London in Adrian's expensive apartment, crying over my lost love with Becca's arm around me. It was like some sort of twisted fantasy.

"We're a messed up pair, aren't we?" She laughed lightly.

"Yes. Yes we are." She got up and the bed-thing shifted ever so slightly. "Adrian and I decided we wanted to look around the sights tomorrow." That caught my attention.

"'Look at the sights'? What the hell? How long have you been here?"

"We needed someone to show us around. You're the perfect person."

"I didn't live in London, you know. I lived 20 miles away. And I can't believe you want to go sight-seeing. We're supposed to be hiding from the guardians!"

"We can still have a bit of fun." I sighed again, quickly sorted out my face and hair in Becca's huge gilded mirror and followed her back out to the living room.

"Hey, Amy," Adrian greeted me cheerily, oblivious to my post-breakdown state. "I guess Becca told you."

"Yes," I said tightly. "Yes, she did. I think you're fools, the pair of you."

"Well, if having fun means we're fools, so be it." Becca grinned.

"Look, how long have you guys been here?"

"We told you. The entire Summer holidays.

"Okay, well...how have you been feeding?" They looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, um..."

"We fed off of each other," Becca butted in.

"What? Is that allowed? Is that even _possible_?"

"Since when have you cared about what's allowed or not." I sighed _again_. "And, well, what else were we supposed to do?" Becca and Adrian shared a gooey look and I suddenly had my doubts about staying here.

"Look, if you want to hide from the guardians, we're gonna have to work something proper out. A schedule or something. 'Cause let me tell you, we are damn good. Killing Strigoi isn't all we do, you know. How about...you each take a little bit from me each day?"

"Amy, you'll be too drained to fight if we get into anything."

"Good point. Well...you could compel humans?"

"Of course! Why didn't we think of that?" Adrian muttered.

"Because you're dumbasses?"

"Ha ha. So, that's it?"

"Not really. Becca, what element do you use?"

"Fire," she breathed, and a warm current drifted through the air.

"Awesome. Well, it's just me protecting you guys. You...you don't mind, only being protected by a fifteen year old girl with half a year's training, do you?"

"Nah, not at all. Besides, you have a _molnija_ mark. I'm sure you can protect us from at least one Strigoi, and Becca can help with fire," Adrian consoled.

"Actually, I've killed six." I couldn't stop my words from escaping. They gasped.

"Six? When?"

"We ran into eight the other day. Rose got three and Lewis distracted some whilst I killed them." I choked over my words.

"Oh." There was an awkward silence and Becca made a weird shape with her hands before giggling hysterically. We shot her weird looks. "So, what time shall we get up tomorrow?"

"Nine?"

"Nine! We've been getting up at midday!"

"You're not going to get much done if you get up at midday," I told him truthfully.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Night girls." I glanced at Becca and let her go in the bathroom first. I really didn't fancy any fights tonight. In fact, I didn't fancy any at all. But despite her earlier actions, I doubted my wishes would come true.


	6. Chapter 6 Shop

**Why no reviews guys? I had at least 9 people reading on Tuesday : (**

When I woke up, I slipped out of bed immediately, stretching my back. The bed-thing was awfully uncomfortable and I'd tossed and turned for longer than usual before sleeping-I was always a bad sleeper, and recent events had made that much worse. Bleary-eyed, I glanced over at Becca, who was still sleeping peacefully in her bed, and then at the clock on the wall. It read half past six. Sighing, I got up and made my way silently to the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth as quietly as possible. I then slipped into an old T-shirt and some washed-out jeans before yanking a brush through my knotted hair. Once I was as satisfied as I was ever going to be with the mess, I padded to the kitchen and flung open all the cupboards, searching for some form of breakfast. But the cupboards were completely empty. I sighed and my stomach rumbled, emphasising that fact. I really was starving, but I couldn't wake up Adrian or Becca. I took a quick look all over the kitchen. There was half a packet of HobNobs, a carton of milk in the fridge, a handful of grapes and some stale bread. That was it. Were they really that useless? I scrawled out a shopping list in y messy handwriting, grabbed my pathetic excuse for a coat and pocketed the keys and my purse before leaving. Outside it was about ten degrees, even colder than usual for England. I had a funny feeling that the river breeze had something to do with it. I made my way out to the main street, knowing that there would be some sort of co-op or supermarket along there, right? Wrong. The place was full of designer shops and crap like that, but nothing useful. I grumbled something and strode off. London had already accustomed a fair amount of traffic for this early in the morning. I walked about a mile down the road before finally finding a TESCOS. I walked inside and was greeted with my carefully brushed hair being blown around again. They'd only just opened, and I think the assistant was surprised to see somebody as young as me there so early. It was only 7am. I breezed through the store, grabbing the things I needed off of the shelves and a few extra things that I just spontaneously decided I might want. i.e. chocolate. I was able to convince myself that this was normal, and I was just doing errands for my Mum quickly. I paid by cash, as I had no idea what Adrian's pin number is. The cashier wished me a good day-polite for London-and I ventured back out into the wind. I had three bags hanging off of either arm, Becca's old handbag hung over my shoulder and another bag balancing off of one finger. It wasn't even a strain, and I began to wonder if I'd really changed that much. It had never been a strain before, either.

On the way back, I spotted a small leisure centre. There was a poster on the side saying 'Gym now OPEN' that caught my eye. I backtracked and made my way into the warm reception, reading the notices on the little board before making my way up to the main desk.

"Hi," I began. "I was wondering if I could, um, join the, um, teen gym?" The woman smiled at me.

"Of course sweetie. It's for 12-15year olds," she told me, before passing over a little leaflet. "If you could just fill in these questions for me and I'll create you a membership card." I followed where she was pointing to a scratchy blue chair where I proceeded to fill in my details. They mainly wanted to know whether I was real and had any health problems. I made a fake name; Amelia Taylor. It sounded fairly normal. I handed the woman back my form and she smiled before handing me a small green card. I slipped it into my purse, avoiding the pictures.

"Okay, the gym is 10-11am every Saturday morning in the back room. Your instructor will be called Brad. He's really nice and funny, so I'm sure you'll be fine," she informed me. I wondered why she thought I wouldn't be. Sure, I didn't really look like the sporty type but I was going to be fine. I smiled at her and made my way back to the apartment. I slipped in silently. I arranged the food in the cupboards neatly and made myself some breakfast. When it was finished it was still only half past 8. I sighed and flipped on the TV quietly, trying to find some comfort in the perfectly normal gesture. Some crappy soap opera that I wasn't really watching played and I saw Becca come in. She was wearing pink silk pyjamas and her hair looked like something had died in it.

"Up already?" she asked. I chuckled drily. She reached for the Hobnobs and then went to get a glass of milk before gasping. "How the hell did all this food get here?" I rolled my eyes.

"What's this?" Adrian asked, walking in just in time.

"The fridge is full of food!"

"Oh, I wonder how that got there." He grinned at me and I shrugged.

"No idea. Maybe it was the fairies," I replied. Becca glared at the two of us.

"You two will be the death of me, I swear," she told us.

"Good," I whispered, not quiet enough. Adrian laughed and Becca threw her plate at me. My hand snapped up and caught it mid-air, shaking my head. "Never fight a dhampir, Becca." She growled and ate her breakfast in silence.

**Hope you like it, guys!**


	7. Chapter 7 Tour

**This is kind of a chapter to introduce you to London. It took me hours, so I hope you like it. The links to the videos I used are: http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=qHvO_6sBX0g http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=bVupWk2fpK4&feature=related **

**Replace the (dot)'s with .'s **

Once everyone was dressed and ready, we got the tube down to Embankment. Somebody was advertising a boat tour that started in 5 minutes.

"Oh, please can we go on there!" Becca begged. Adrian purchased us some tickets and we climbed on the boat up to the top deck. There were many tourists on the top already taking pictures of the bank and buildings around.

"**Welcome aboard," the **commentator greeted us in a strong Cockney accent. The boat started up and I felt the wind biting my cheeks. The wind whipped my hair. **"Here on the right, you can't miss the London Eye, can you?" **Nope. The big white wheel that I'd always been afraid of glared at us.** "It's 450 feet tall. It is the 2****nd**** largest observation wheel in the world. They've just built a bigger one in Singapore. There's 32 of those little glass viewing pods and each pod represents a borough here in Greater London. Each pod carries 25 passengers. So if you do the maths, that's 800 people when it's fully loaded. £17 a ticket, which means on one complete half an hour circuit, the London Eye earns...well it earns a lot of money, doesn't it?" **The audience laughed.** "Seriously, it earns about £13,600 on one complete circuit when it's fully loaded. It can earn over £300,000 every single day in summer, when it's busy. Anyway, moving on, ahead of the boat we have the Charing Cross railway bridge. This bridge is unique. Unique because, when we pass beneath the railway line, we'll pass over one at the same time. The Bakerloo line and Northern line crosses the river at this point. Either side of the old railway you'll see the bridges. They're the Golden Jubilee walkways, put here in the year 2002. What we'd like to do on this boat is, as we go through the bridges, give a little wave. Try and get them to wave back. They don't always wave back, I'll give 'em a hoot for ya." **The horn blared and the people turned to us. A few waved back but most continued on, probably in a hurry to get to work.** "They waving? Now they say it brings you luck if you wave and they wave back, but you never know. You might make somebody's day. This is a noisy bridge, but there's another footbridge on the other side so you can try and get 'em. Is this lady gonna wave?" **No. Grumpy pants.** "Now, as you noticed, when we went through it, it **_**is**_** a noisy railway and that is the reason why this building here on the right has just had a £91 million refurbishment to make it sound proof. That is the Royal Festival Hall. It's the last remaining building from the festival of Great Britain in 1951. Many famous people have performed in there over the years but it's now part of London's south bank. They've gotta lotta classical music going on in the festival hall. There's many nice restaurants there. On the south bank you'll find a lot of tings to do. Just further in London is the IMAX cinema. They have a 63 feet cinema screen, the biggest on in Great Britain. So it's definitely worth walking around this area on the right. But if you look to your right, it doesn't look like a nice place to walk around, does it?" Nope. "There's a lot of graffiti underneath that building. Believe it or not, they're allowed to graffiti over there. That's where BMXers and skateboarders perform all throughout the day," **Cool!** "so if you like Extreme sports, that's a good place to go and watch. Just here we have the Waterloo bridge. It opened in 1945. A self-cleaning bridge, made with a very expensive Portland stone. Every time it rains here in London," **Oh, only all the time,** "the face gets a thorough cleaning. As you can see, underneath it's very dirty. Under the bridge you can see scaffolding, from the scaffolding bales of hay. Quite peculiar. A lot of people ask about the hay, but it's only there to tell us that the river is restricted in that group (AN: I didn't quite catch that). All you can see anyway, it's just an old tradition here on the Thames to hang a bale of hay, and there's many old traditions here in London. Here on your right on the south bank, this concrete building with the electronic sign is the National Theatre, believe it or not. And it's very nice on the inside. There's three theatres which they say are the best in the country. As you can see for yourself, the outside really does let it down. A lot of people say the National Theatre looks like a multi-story car park." **I laughed. I'd never thought of it that way before.** "People say it looks like a power station. Prince Charles once commented, Prince Charles said the National Theatre is a 'monstrous carbuncle'. Well that's his opinion. Personally, I don't even know what a carbuncle is, but apparently that building looks like one. All I do know is that Prince Charles seems to be a lover of the older things in life." **The crowd chuckled.** "I don't think you're taking this very seriously. I was talking about his ship just there on the left, The Wellington. Now this ship served for the Royal Navy and most of its action was out in New Zealand. They moored it here eventually to become the World's first floating Livery Hall for the honourable club of Master Mariners. Basically means that ship on the left is an entertainment club for tired sea captains and former ship owners. But you can see for yourself, they do use it for corporate events as well. But if you're from this country, or you live in this country you might recognise that ship." **Umm, should I?** "You might recognise this area of London, because they use this part of the river as a backdrop when they're filming, which of course means here on the right we have Film Studios. That tower building and all the buildings on the river front. These studios are Carlton Television and London Weekend Television, TV Channel 3. But they do use this part of the river as a backdrop when they're filming programs like This Morning and the News." **Oh yeah, I remember that.** "So, you never know, we might be on the telly as we pass. In front of the film studios you'll see Sunday Beach. Now over there, that's where the tide is naturally slack and the sand settles. As the sand settles, of course, it forms a beach. In summer, believe it or not, you can find hundreds of people on that beach." **_Seriously?_ **" Who would think we had a beach here in London? But if you're looking for it, that's where it is. South bank Riviera. They do sand sculpturing," **Awesome!** "on there somewhere as well and it's worth walking past. Here on the right is an old warehouse, Stanford Wharf is its name. The word wharf is an acronym. It means Ware House at River Front. Now, like many wharfs, this building has been converted. It's now luxury apartments with a restaurant on the top. To your left you'll see a white building with a green sloped roof. That is the old City of London school. Many famous unimportant dignitaries got a healthy education in that school, like Lord Asquith and Winston Churchill, two of this countries' former war-time Prime Ministers. They went to school there. And ahead of the boat we have the Blackfriars road bridge. Opened in 1869 by Queen Victoria. As we get closer to the bridge, have a look at the top of the four red marble support columns. Look carefully, and you'll see birds engraved in the stone. On this side of the bridge, you'll see fresh water birds. On the other side of the bridge you'll see saltwater birds. This is where the Victorians believe that the freshwater coming down from the source of the river Thames, which is Cotswolds Hills in Gloucestershire, met the saltwater coming in from the North Sea. They called this part of the river the Tidal Head. Did everybody see the birds?" **Yep.** "Either side of the boat are these red columns, they're what remains from the first railway bridge found on the River Thames and replaced as you can see. They're doing quite a bit of work on this bridge at the moment. They're painting it and extending the bridge to accompany the amount of people coming into London during the 2012 Olympics. And we're now at the halfway point of the journey to the Tower of London. Are you enjoying yourselves?" **The crowd cheered weakly and I sighed. Adrian had Becca in his arms, so I rested my arm on the edge.** "Just here on your left you can see St. Paul's Cathedral, Christopher Wren's masterpiece. Opened in 1710, although the first church service inside St Pauls' was in 1693. It took 35 years to complete the construction. The (AN:?)of St Paul's is easy to remember. It's one foot for every day of the year, 365 feet. You can walk to the top-there's an observation platform just above the dome. I've done it. There's 534 stairs you have to climb to get to the top and then you've gotta come back down again, so it's a bit effort but the views are as good as on the London Eye. In front we have the Millennium footbridge. This bridge is known as the Wibbly-Wobbly Bridge." **Wow!** "It got its nickname because, three hours after it was open, it was closed. It was wobbling so violently that people were falling over," **a lot of people sniggered,** "so they closed the bridge down to stabilise it. It's now safe to walk on, as you can see, but in total it cost 25 million. You'll notice it's ruined the best view of St Paul's we used to get from the river. What a shame. If you follow the bridge along to the right, you can see the old bank side power station, which today is the Tate Modern Art Gallery. It is free of charge to go in the Tate Modern. If you've ever seen modern art, you'll understand why it's free of charge." **I chuckled. I wasn't a fan of modern art but Adrian obviously was, as he groaned.** "It's because it's absolute rubbish. Let's be honest. Of course, it's only my opinion, shared by many. But I did mean that literally. A lot of the masterpieces are made from rubbish. There's a pile of bricks, a burnt out car and a half-eaten McFlurry," **_Why?___**"but if you like Modern Art, that's the place to go. **_**(AN: change video)**_** Behind us on the right, a white building with a thatched roof, the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. All throughout the summer you can go in that building and watch Shakespeare's traditional plays re-enacted in their traditional style. There's no lighting, no sound amplification and all the actors are dressed in the period costume. But it is only open during the Summer and the weather isn't too good today, is it?" **No shit.** "We've had some nice days recently. Just here we have the Southwark bridge, opened in 1921. Now, through the bridge on the right we've got that tavern The Anchor. Dates back to 1615. The Anchor is quite famous in history and was frequented by many famous people like Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens, Christopher Wren and William Shakespeare himself. And it's not a museum, it is still a pub, so you might want to go in there yourself. Just ahead now, the bridge we're passing through is the Camerstrick (?) railway bridge. It's not very interesting, so we'll move on. If you look at the supports of the bridge, you'll see that the tide is brushing out to the sea in a moment. The tides can travel off a speed of up to 6 knots and the best Olympic swimmer in the world couldn't swim against it. Very strong, very dangerous, makes it very hard to navigate these boats under the bridge. Here on the right, especially for the children, a small pirate ship in the dock way. This ship is the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, the Golden Hinde. Francis Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the World. On the ship he had a crew of 80 men in 1577. It's a fully working replica and it's been round the world twice. Ahead of the boat we have a very famous bridge. So famous, they once wrote a song about it. This is London Bridge. Do you all know the nursery rhyme?" Of course. "Look either side of the boat and you'll see the name engraved into the stone. Now, talking of nursery rhymes, you may've heard the one 'London's Burning'. Well, staying on the subject, here on your left is a gap in the buildings. These are monuments to The Great Fire of London. A stone column with a golden flame on the top, built to represent a candle. It was said to be a candle that started the fire in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane on 2****nd**** September 1666. And here on the left, a blue glass building. This is the headquarters and training grounds of the London Window Cleaning Company." I laughed, **but Adrian and Becca were giving me confused looks. _Gullible idiots.___**"No, not really. It's the head offices of the Daily Star and the Daily Telegraph. The yellow brick building on the left is the old fish market. Behind that you'll see a building that looks incomplete. It was the world's first inside-out building." **Awesome! **"They have all the lift shafts on the outside, the stairs, air conditioning and so on. And then you'll see the Gherkin in the city. Known as the Gherkin, obviously, because it's shaped as a Gherkin. There were many other suggestions to what it looks like, I'm sure you can imagine. The Rocket, American Football and so on. It cost £300 million to build. It's 600 feet tall. It's as tall as this ship on the right is long. This is the HMS Belfast. The largest light cruiser ever commissioned by the Royal Navy. It weighs 11500 tonnes. It was launched on St Patrick's Day in 1938, commissioned a year later and was built in a very famous shipyard- the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The same ship yard that built the Titanic. The Belfast today is part of the Imperial War Museum and free to explore and it's open 7 days a week. You'll see the ship's guides here at the back, dressed up like the old captains. They'll give you a hand if there's anything you want to know or if you want to be shown around the ship, they're more than happy to do it. It's £10 for adults, children under 16 go free. And I'm sure you ladies can't wait to get on there. Just here on your right now, you'll see a glass building shaped like a motorcyclist's crash helmet. It cost £52 million to build. It was designed by Lord Norman Foster. Norman Foster also designed The Millennium Footbridge and the Gherkin. That's the head offices of Boris Johnson. And just ahead of the boat-Tower Bridge. The gateway to London. Tower Bridge isn't as old as it looks. It was built on June 30****th**** in 1894. It's a steel and iron suspension bridge but has stone around it to blend in with the Tower of London. Has anybody been lucky enough to see Tower Bridge open? You do have to be quite lucky." i.e. not me. "It only opens about 500 times a year on average. You can see that they've started to repaint it. They've done either side but they haven't yet done the centre. They estimate they'll use 20,000 litres of paint! It'll cost £1.5million. It's actually more money to paint the bridge today then it was to build in the first place. What we'll do is we'll turn the boat around and, as we do, you'll get a nice side-on view of the bridge." **Aww man, aren't we going any further? I wanted to see-

"For those of you that'd like to go further, you can get on a different boat with the same tickets. There won't be a commentary but you can continue on to see Cinnabar Wharf and the Floodwall etc."

"What's Cinnabar Wharf?" someone asked.

"Cinnabar wharf is a set of apartments. There's three buildings made out of glass. Many say they look like boats, but they're actually supposed to represent French soldiers marching. Don't ask me why. They sell for millions of £'s per apartment." I felt a jolt of shock. That's where we were staying.

"Are we going to change boats?" I wondered.

"Nah," Adrian told me. "I want to get off now. I was getting bored and it's cold up here. Maybe we could go and visit the sights?" I snorted but we got off anyway, tipping the commentator on our way out.

"Where now then?"

"Can we go on the London Eye?" Becca asked.

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm scared of heights."

"A dhampir scared of heights?" She snorted. "How about the museums?" I groaned as we got the Tube down to the portrait gallery. We walked inside and then walked straight back out again as Becca realised what it was. We found ourselves in Trafalgar Square, staring up at the huge statue in the middle. I grinned suddenly. Becca caught my eye and she was also smirking. I sprinted for the statue and clambered up, yanking Becca up with me. We posed with the lions whilst Adrian snapped pictures of us. Putting ourselves in the right place, we made it look like the fountains were our mouths with the camera. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had so much fun. Just these simple gestures had me in hysterics. We then made our way to Covent Garden where we watch a street performer and Adrian had to pull a nail out of a man's nose. It was so gross, but I was mainly giggling at Becca's expression. She looked like she was going to hurl.

"I think we should go home now," she stammered out. Adrian put and arm around her as we headed back to the apartments. I made us some late lunch and we sat at the table eating our sandwiches.

"Did you have fun?" I asked in a cheesy voice.

"Yeah, it was awesome," they squealed back. I smirked.

"You know, I was thinking about something," Adrian began half way through the meal. I eyed his dangerous expression warily as did Becca.

"What?"

"Well, I was thinking, now that you're both here maybe you should...well, enrol in a human school."

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8 School

**So, who likes the Extreme Ways cover? You can find it on my webbie. I did some cool effects on the News and Updates page to make it look better. Like? Don't like?**

I choked on my sandwich.

"What?" Becca screeched. "Are you insane?" I nodded. My thoughts exactly.

"I think we all already knew that," he admitted. "But I'm being serious. If we're settling down here, you'll need an education." _Settling down here._ Was this what I was going to spend the rest of my life doing? The idea wasn't _that_ bad. After all, the reason I'd left was to become a normal person again. To try and chase my dreams once more. If we went to school...

"Adrian, I don't know," I told him. "How will I keep you both safe? It's hard enough as it is."

"Amy, did anything happen the whole Summer before you turned up? No. Nothing happened. We were safe. Becca has fire magic. I have compulsion. I'll just stay in the house all day."

"All day? Five days a week? Seven hours a day?"

"If that's what it takes to allow you to have an education, I'll do it." Becca hugged him and they started talking about mushy stuff. I raised my eyebrows. I really hadn't thought of Adrian as the 'educational type'.

"I still don't know. It might not be the best idea. What if we have to get up and move suddenly?"

"We withdraw."

"It's not that easy, you know! You can't just sign a form and go! Just like getting in in the first place."

"Look, Amy," Becca muttered. "We'll figure something." I glared at her.

"You just want me to shut up so you can screw your boyfriend." Both of them stared at me aghast. "What? Don't act like you don't. I'm not stupid." They still remained speechless, mouths agape like goldfish. I got myself up, put the plate in the dishwasher and stormed to our room, slamming the door shut behind me. I flung myself onto my bed-thing, feeling the hard floor as I landed and wincing. I really missed the hotel right now. Why had I been so nasty? I didn't know what came over me. I just...I don't know. But could Adrian be serious? I didn't know whether it was a good idea or not. It could be cool but...

I glanced over in the corner where Becca's new laptop sat. Usually I wouldn't even think of touching it, but I couldn't get in much more trouble than I already was, so I flipped it open. Stupid girl, not having a password. I pulled up a map of the area and scanned it for schools on multimap, turning on the option that automatically looked for me. There. The closest school was Wapping Gardens Grammar School. Hmmm...

I closed the laptop and wandered back into the kitchen. Becca and Adrian shut up suspiciously as I walked in.

"The closest school nearby is Wapping Gardens Grammar School," I informed them.

"What's that mean?" Adrian asked.

"It's a specialist school. It only takes the top percent of students from the area. I used to go to one." Becca gulped.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she mumbled.

"Sure. You'll get a better education that way." Adrian nodded and glanced at his phone.

"It's Wednesday. The school will be open, right?" he asked anxiously.

"Yeah. We have school on Wednesdays, Adrian."

"Okay well, we can head down there now, right?"

"Yes." I could feel my exasperation leaking into my voice. Why did they have to keep checking with _me_? Oh yeah. I'm their guardian. Right. Duh.

We-well, I- tidied up the kitchen and then we went down to the school, following the SatNav on Adrian's expensive looking phone. It was about a mile or so away and Becca was exhausted when we got there. I shook my head at her. When I went to my old school as a 'human', it had a mile walk. There were girls that walked with me that handled it better than Becca. Adrian put on a ring which was supposed to age him by 20 years. He was now our 41 year old father. I laughed and he shot me a look. Even Becca was a bit disturbed by his appearance.

We walked up and through the double doors leading to the school, where a receptionist was sat behind a desk typing away at a computer. She turned as we walked in.

"Hello, welcome to Wapping Garden Grammar School. How can I help you?" she asked.

"Umm...I'd like to enrol my frie-daughters in this school please," Adrian told her and she frowned.

"You'll have to see Mrs Entmann about that. Right this way." She got up from her desk and lead us out of the office, down a corridor. It reminded me eerily of my old school, Chelmsford County High. The floor was wooden and the receptionist's-Miss Gulther-high heels clacked against the floor. I wondered if they'd make dents in it. We walked past a few classrooms. They were full of girls, each room having different ages. Some of them looked interested, some were chatting in some form of group work, and some looked dead bored. We found ourselves at an imposing wooden door stating that it was 'Mrs Entmann's office. Headteacher.' Mrs Gulther rapped on the door and a cheery "Come in!" came from the inside. Becca and I glanced warily at each other whilst Adrian looked a bit clammy.

The door opened into a bright room-because of several windows along the back wall. It was painted white and had a scratchy blue carpet. The woman sat a large wooden desk covered in paperwork was in a dark jacket and a black-and-white spotty pencil skirt. She had ginger hair in a short bob and a pair of glasses perched on her thin nose. She looked at us with wise green eyes and I suddenly missed Lissa desperately.

"Why, hello. Who might you be?" she asked, her voice high and very posh sounding.

"I'm Adrian...Adrian Torres," he muttered after I gave him a sharp glance. _Torres? Really?_ "And these are my daughters Amy and Becca." The woman turned and scanned us.

"Sisters...you two don't look like sisters." Oh shit. I guess there was a big different between the two of them. I'm short, she's tall. I'm curvy, she's skinny. I have brown hair, she has blonde hair. I have hazel eyes, she has blue eyes. Neither of us looked anything like Adrian. But of course, being the crazy one I am, I came up with a lie immediately. I leaned towards the headteacher and whispered,

"We're adopted. You can't really say that, though, because prefers to think we're actually related. She likes the thought of a proper family." I pulled back and Mrs Entmann's face showed me she understood, but with wide eyes. Adrian and Becca frowned at me quickly before smoothing their expressions and turning towards her.

"So, you'd like to join my school. How old are you two?"

"Fifteen."

"And that would make you...year 11's. Oh. I'm afraid I can't enrol you this year. I'm extremely sorry."

"Why not?" Becca questioned.

"Well, this is the year you're doing your GCSE's, isn't it? The school you're currently at will have a slightly different teaching method or curriculum to this school, so you'll have to stay there this year. Maybe, if you pass our testing, you could enter into the Sixth Form next year." I sighed. Of course they wouldn't let us in that easily.

"You will let this two girls enrol into this school," Adrian murmured softly and Mrs Entmann nodded. I frowned and glanced at Becca.

"Compulsion," she mouthed and I nodded slowly.

"Okay then. Please fill out this forms and take a look through these files." She handed them over the desk and motioned to the two chairs at the back of the room. We sat down and flipped through. The booklet was a school prospectus, advertising the Outstanding Ofsted report, Specialist science college and music rooms. There were a few files to fill in.

_**Name:**__ Amelia Torres _ Becca raised her eyebrow and I shrugged. No way was I going to tell her my real name. The Academy had known me as nothing more than Amy, and I was good with that.

_**Age:**__ 15_

_**D.o.b:**__ 14/2/1996_

"Why is there no gender question?" Becca murmured and I felt my lips twist up.

"It's an all girls school," I told her truthfully.

"What?" she screeched, but quietly. "Why?"

"Why do you care? You've got a boyfriend. Your 'one true love'."

"Well, yes, but..." I sighed. Admittedly, I had like having boys around at the Academy after spending my life with girls beforehand.

_**Allergies: **__None_

_**Medical Condition:**_Umm, can I put dhampir? _None._

_**Previous school (s):**__ Broomfield Primary School, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, The Academy of Arts in Missoula_ I nudged back and urged her to put the same lie. Well, the last one was a lie.

_**School transference dates: **__BPS-CCHS: 2007, CCHS-AAM: November 2010_

_**Previous subjects studied:**_Huh. This should be interesting.

_English Language (until November 2010)_

_English Literature _

_Maths (until November 2010)_

_Physics (until November 2010)_

_Biology _

_Chemistry (until November 2010)_

_German (until November 2010)_

_French (until July 2010)_

_Latin (until November 2010)_

_Art_

_ICT (completed Short Course GCSE in June 2010)_

_Drama (until July 2010)_

_Music (until July 2010)_

_Textiles (until July 2010)_

_Geography (until November 2010)_

_History (until November 2010)_

_Religious Studies (until July 2010)_

_Graphics (until July 2010)_

_Engineering (until July 2010)_

_Economics (from November 2010)_

_PE (until July 2010, from November 2010)_

Becca gaped at my long list. July 2010 had been when we were allowed to drop some subjects so we could focus on others for our GCSE's. November 2010 was when I picked some stuff back up at the Academy. If anybody had told me I'd be doing GCSE PE, I would've laughed it off. Even now, as a dhampir, I still couldn't play sports to save my life.

_**Date 11+ was completed: **__25/11/06_ The 11+ was a test that all girls willing to join a grammar school had to take. I'd taken it several years ago, so this wasn't a lie at all. I told Becca to write down the same things. There was some other crap to fill out and then we handed them back to the head.

"Okay," she said, flipping through our answers. "The uniform shop is in the adjacent room."

"The uniform?" Becca gaped, horrified.

"Of course. Most schools have uniform." Of course. She was so used to non-uniform in America. Now she'd get a taste of real school. "It is a purple and blue plaid kilt with a lilac blouse. The blazer is navy blue and so is the jumper. Students must wear tights or socks in either black, white or navy. Only black, navy or purple hair bands are allowed. You must keep all personal belongings lock in your locker at all times. Is there anything else you need? I will create your timetables whilst you get the uniform."

"Umm, yeah. Please can we have the same classes?" I asked her and she gave me a cold stare.

"Becca has a disability that only I can care for."

"You didn't say that on your sheet."

"I didn't feel the need. It wasn't really something I could say." She sighed.

"We'll see." We wandered to the uniform shop and Becca almost retched at the sight. I grinned. It was very similar to my old uniform. When we got back to Mrs Entmann, she had our timetables ready.

**Amelia Torres Form: 11H Rm25**

**Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Week A**

**History Rm 24 Maths Rm 5 Textiles T2 Art Rm 20 Biology B2**

**BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

**Economics Rm 35 Biology B1 Latin Rm 15 Maths Rm 4 Geography Rm 9**

**German Rm 31 Chemistry C3 English La. Rm 26 Geography Rm 9 English La. Rm 27**

**LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH**

**Latin Rm 15 Geography Rm10 English Lit. Rm 1 German Rm 31 English Lit. Rm 1**

**Art Rm 19 PE Economics Rm 35 PE History Rm 8**

**Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Week B**

**History Rm 24 Latin Rm 15 Textiles T1 Art Rm 20 Maths Rm 4**

**BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

**Economics Rm 35 English La. Rm 26 English La. Rm 27 Chemistry C1 Geography Rm 9**

**German Rm 31 Biology B1 Latin Rm 15 Chemistry C1 English Lit. Rm 1**

**LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH**

**Art Rm 20 English Lit. Rm 1 Economics Rm 35 German Rm 31 Art Rm 19**

**Maths Rm 5 PE Maths Rm 4 PE History Rm 24**

"Why are they different?" Becca asked.

"That's how it works," Mrs Entmann explained. "So, tomorrow is Thursday Week B. Your form room is Room 25. School begins at 8.45. Each period is one hour long. Registration is 25 minutes. Break is 20 minutes. Lunch is an hour. School ends at 3.40. Please wear correct uniform and be prompt. Good luck on your first day."

"Thank you," I told her, and then hurried us out. As soon as we got out of the school, I burst out laughing. This was just going to fail so much.


	9. Chapter 9 Greet

**The comeback begins!**

**Yes, my friends, it is me. I have returned from the pits of 'revision'. I thank you all for being so patient with me! Who would've that those AN updates would draw in new readers? So, as summer's drawing near, I should be getting back to my prior routine. I'll have a few essays, like the English one I'm procrastinating, but in Year 9 we don't have any end-of-year's! Ka-ching! So hopefully, amongst my dwindling piles of homework, I'll be updating more often for you! **

**Oh, and, before I forget, Amy's timetable in the last chapter was supposed to be in table form but it came out wrong, sorry.**

**Oh, and, http:/www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=bqyjoaPUXAI**

**Take out the (dot)'s if you want to watch the Hieroglyphics Song**

"_What_," Becca sneered at the TV, "is this?" I glanced over and noticed a strange dude dressed up as an Egyptian singing the Hieroglyphics Song. He was attempting to sing in a cowboy accent, but when he spoke it was clearly English accented. I laughed.

"You're watching re-runs of _Horrible Histories,_ Becca. That's my brother's favourite show," I told her. I was suddenly upset by the memory of him giggling away at the stupid guy.

"What channel?"

"BBC."

"Why don't we get this in America? Admittedly, this show is crap, but some of the soaps they had on earlier were good." I sighed. I hated _Eastenders_ with a vengeance.

"That would be because it stands for the _British Broadcasting Company_. In case you hadn't realised, England is in Britain, not America."

"Remind me not to watch this again. You say you love your 'human' life, but how could you with crap TV like this?" There was an awkward silence as that sunk in. I wondered how she could justify my human life by one stupid TV program.

'_...spelling bee. That's not how you spell bee- see me. Foot. Reed. Reed. Easy.'_

I wished life really was that easy.

"Well..." Becca mused, trying to break the silence, "that guy is kind of fit." I snorted and we both burst into fits of giggles.

"Are you kidding? Have you seen those eyebrows?"

"They're made of paper, Amy."

"_I know_. He looks so stupid, though."

"Just imagine him not looking so stupid..." Nope. Still nothing. My eyes were still blinded by...him.

'_Let's have some fun with numbers...here we go!'_

"Everyone needs their one, two, three," we sang with him. "It's as easy as eye, eye eye, eye eye eye. You can all count to ninety-nine. Easy to write it's hoop hoop hoop hoop hoop hoop hoop hoop hoop, eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye"

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?" Adrian demanded suddenly. Becca and I chuckled. "Seriously, I'm worried about you two."

"Don't be. It's just some fun," I told him honestly.

'_Basket?'_

"No. Just, no." He shook his head. "I'm going to bed. What time do we need to be up in the morning?"

"Well, Becca and I should be up at about seven but you can have a lie-in."

"_Seven?_" Becca cried. "It's school all over again!"

"Yes, well done." She rolled her eyes and we headed to bed. I dropped onto the bed-thingee and tossed and turned my usual before getting to sleep.

_The crowd screamed as they walked onto stage, and I joined them. Somehow I'd managed to purchase front-stage tickets and backstage passes to a joint MUSE-Shinedown-Red-Skillet-Evanescence-Panic! At the Disco concert and it was pretty darn good. They took their places and started playing Hyper Music; my favourite song. The screens on either side showed the crowd. We rippled as we all jumped up together. A few rows back they'd started a Mexican wave, and some people were just raving madly. I yelled with excitement as a space ship appeared above our heads and 'gave birth' to an alien. The crowd roared. MUSE were pretty well-known for their weird performances. Then Matt ran across the front of the stage and high-fived all those close enough to touch. I squealed as her touched my hand, held it to my heart, turned to Lewis and-_

I sat up. Lewis? It had always been Leah in those dreams. I hadn't dreamt it for almost a year, as my life had been consumed by love, killing, surviving yada yada. It was such a small thing and yet it made the world of difference. Lewis. He was invading my dreams, taking the place of others. _Why couldn't I keep my mind off of him?_ I couldn't get back to sleep, so I padded to the TV and watched re-runs of last week's _X Factor_. Last year the guy who won had come from about five miles down the road from my old house.

When it reached seven o'clock, Becca got up and we had some breakfast before preparing for our first day. I grabbed my rucksack and shoved in the logbook we'd been given yesterday as well as a pencil case with a few necessary items. I assumed we'd be given our books later. I hitched up my skirt so it was a few inches higher than was allowed, rolled up my blazer sleeves and called to Becca. Her uniform was too big for her, but she was trying her best to make sure it didn't look that way. She was wrapped up in gloves, a scarf and the school jumper under her blazer, whose pockets were full of crap. I remembered to put a map of the school in mine, my stake in the inner pockets and a fistful of money. Her skirt was literally up her ass. I shook my head at her and we set off.

It was about a mile to the school, and when we got there Becca was complaining non-stop. I'd tried to tune her out by blasting out my eardrums with gothic rock stuff, to no avail. I pulled out the map and found my way to Room 25. Apparently it was a little demountable in the middle of the school field. We picked our way through the school and pushed open the door to the demountable. The room was filled with girls in varying sized uniforms. I knew the social system just by a look.

In the back corner: The Plastics. They were all exactly the same-blonde, tall, skinny, sluts and-from experience of them-probably bitches. I wondered of Becca would join them.

In the middle of the room: The Neutrals. In my previous school they'd just been normal people. I couldn't tell what they were like here yet, but they were a large group of girls just sat an chatting. There were a few mobile phones and magazines, as well as bags and shoes, strewn across the floor. There were no tables or chairs, except for the teacher's desk. It dawned on me that it was a drama room. I slipped off my shoes and tucked Becca to the back corner-the one opposite The Plastics, of course, where the lockers were. I clipped on the locks we'd bought, seeing as the school didn't provide any for us, and stuck a copy of our timetable on the inside of the door. Then we sat down and waited until our form tutor was due to come in 5 minutes.

"What? No-one's going to show us around?" Becca seemed horrified.

"No. Of course not. I wasn't shown around when I joined the Academy. The only time I was ever shown around was the induction day for my previous school. We have to figure this out for ourselves." The door opened and a tall man walked in towards the desk.

"Morning, girls," he greeted everyone.

"Morning, Mr Barnwell," they chorused back. Becca and I muttered some unintelligible, even to ourselves. He called out the register from his laptop, and then fixed his eyes on us.

"Girls, we have two new students joining our class." The entire form swivelled around and stared at us. I shifted uncomfortably and noticed some of The Plastics sneering. Not my fault I can't be assed to cover my face in make-up, is it? Well, it is, but I don't give a shit. "This is Amy and Becca Torres, am I right?" We nodded. "Your respective teachers will give you books as you join the lesson. You may have lots of catching up to do." We nodded again and, as soon as he turned away, the whispers started. I groaned. I had to do this all over again.


	10. Chapter 10 Real

**I was listening to 'What the hell' by Avril Lavigne whilst writing this.**

"So," a cheery Neutral girl asked us after we were dismissed. "What do you have now?"

"Umm...Art!" I told her, pleased with one thing about my day, at least. Becca walked in silence beside me.

"OMG! Same! My name's Hanna, by the way." She stuck out her hand and I shook it awkwardly. "So, um, where are you from?" I saw Becca begin to open her mouth and butted in, hoping she wasn't going to say America. We were surrounded by eavesdropping girls and I really didn't need that right now.

"Essex."

"Like, The Only Way is Essex? I love that program!"

"Well, no, not really. We're not all...like that." I'd never actually seen the program. Personally, I thought it was givng us an awful reputation.

"Oh well, I guess not. Your accent isn't like theirs."

"Yeah, well, yours isn't exactly Cockney either." She chuckled and turned to Becca.

"How about you?" Hanna wondered. "Are you from the same place?"

"Of course we are," Becca said, and I felt my eyes widen before I squeezed them shut. She was doing the _worst_ impression of an Essex accent _ever_. I slapped my hand to my forehand, mortified as the other girls exchanged shocked glances and mutters at her voice. "We're sisters." I nodded meekly.

"Oh. Well. That's great," Hanna mumbled and stalked off.

"Thanks!" I cried at Becca. "That was my first chance at getting a friend and you totally blew it! Why couldn't you just speak normally?"

"Because, hello? I'm American."

"And? A. Nobody speaks like that and B. Why couldn't you just lie?"

"I'm not a very good liar." She hung her head.

"I _know_." We ambled to Art, which was great. The teacher picked up on my 'talent' and I met a couple of girls who did the Art club which I decided to force Becca into going to so I could go too.

After break, when we were ambushed by loads more girls, we had double Chemistry. I groaned and hoped desperately that it was a nice teacher. He wasn't, of course. I mean, who teaches Chemistry and is nice? The class was utter torture, and we had so much work to catch up on. Especially as I hadn't done Chemistry for a year. Great.

Finally, lunch saved us. We had the school dinners, although I ended up eating most of Becca's food. Then suddenly, this girl with stick straight blonde hair to match her stick straight figure stalked up to our table. She barely took the time to turn her nose up at me before she sprawled across the table, in front of my food I might add, and turned to Becca.

"So?" I heard her begin. "How do you fancy coming out to town with us tonight?" I made you-will-die-if-you-say-yes signs over her head but Becca just smiled sweetly and said (in her normal accent thankfully-she'd told the others earlier that she'd been practising drama, which shows how bad a liar she is),

"What's in it for me?"

"For you? You get to hang out with us!" The girl pointed at her friends clustered around a table texting (even though you're not allowed phones in the canteen) and laughing falsely.

"Hmm...Maybe." _What the hell?_ I yanked on the girl's shoulder.

"Excuse me, bitch, but you're in the way of my food," I told her. She put her hand to her mouth and said,

"Am I?" in a sickly sweet voice. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Just 'cause you're new doesn't mean you get star treatment."

"Stealing your spotlight, am I?"

"Don't even think about it, pig."

"Wasn't going to, whore."

"You're gonna regret that." I shrugged.

"I don't give a shit."

"You should do. You're gonna get it so bad." She glared at me, so I chuckled and glared back. She took a step away, probably at my scary guardian face. "Freak."

"Wanker." She gasped at Matt Bellamy's favourite insult (or so I assumed) and stalked away, shaking her barely-covered arse in our faces until, suddenly, she tripped over a bowl dropped by a Year 7. She went flying into another table and got spaghetti all down her clothes. She whirled around and yelled at the Year 7 who was crying. The canteen went eerily silent-except for me. I burst into hysterics, eyes shut and all. _What an idiot!_ The girl turned towards me as I laughed and, as the entire school held a collective breath, yelled,

"You're so gonna pay for that!" I continued to laugh. "Seriously! Why won't you listen to me! It's all your fault and you're going to PAY!" Some of the other girls in the canteen started giggling now, and one of the dinner ladies escorted the girl out. _Way to make an impression, Amy. _I grinned at Becca, who looked a little uneasy.

"Still gonna join them?" I questioned.

"She thought I was worthy," she mumbled. I gave a harsh laugh.

"Worthy of what?"

"Her. Being her friend. Being popular again." I stared at her, and then shook my head.

"She reminds me of you." And then I dumped my bowl and walked away, hoping she would follow me yet hoping she didn't. It was a difficult line to walk.

She didn't come. I didn't see her again until German. She came in late.

"Where have you been?" the prim German woman who taught us wondered.

"Out," Becca muttered through a mouthful of celery.

"You know you can't come in late like this."

"Sorry, miss." But she didn't mean it. She found the spare desk beside me, dumped her bag and put her legs up on the table. The entire class gaped at her.

"Excuse me, Miss...Torres? I do not approve of you disrupting my class."

"But I'm not. I'm just sitting down."

"We have a no-feet-on-table policy here at Wapping Gardens. In fact, I think you'll find that in most schools. Didn't you go to Chelmsford County High?"

"Yeah, well, I thought it'd be more relaxed here. Looks like I was wrong and you're all bossy bitches like the rest of them." We all inhaled at once and the teacher looked stormy.

"Detention in Miss Entmann's office. NOW!" Becca stood up, tucked her chair under her table when I put my hand up.

"Um...excuse me, Miss Hiner. I have to go with Becca." Miss Hiner frowned before nodding.

"Of course," she replied. "Amelia, I give you permission to go with Rebecca." I let myself out and we headed to the headmistress' office.

"What the hell was that?" I hissed. "You know you can't do that!"

"Why not?" she whispered back.

"Because, I don't know, it's _rude_. Impolite and makes you look disinterested-"

"Which I was."

"-and disrupts the lesson. You also destroy the furniture and disrespect the class. This is _real_ school, Becca. With rules. Get used to that."

Miss Entmann's lecture was impressive. I tuned out, as it wasn't my lecture, and she knew it. Becca really did look sorry at the end of it, but I was just bored and glad to get to PE.

We changed quickly in the stuffy rooms that smelt of feet and then jogged out to the astro turf.

"Okay, girls!" a stocky woman named Mrs Gilbert yelled. "Today we are starting Hockey." A few groans, including that of my own, rang out amongst the group. "One lap around the astro, please, girls." I started off, sprinting my way around, way ahead of even the best joggers in the class. Without training, I hadn't been able to jog this without getting out of breath. Now the sprint took me 30 seconds and left me a bit energised. The teacher seemed shocked, so I sat down and watched Becca die. She was the worst by far. GCSE PE. It was almost comical-for a Moroi, that is. The teacher showed us some skills to try out, which I'd never been able to grasp, and then we started a game. I was a midfield or something and I sprinted up and down, whacking people playfully on the kneecaps when Mrs Gilbert wasn't looking. Our team won, of course, and as I sprinted back to get changed, Miss Gilbert called my name. I jogged up to her.

"You were brilliant out there. Not so much at the hockey skills." I looked at my feet sheepishly as she 'praised' me, knowing that, even as a dhampir, I would always be crap at team games. "However, your athletic ability is outstanding. I'd like to invite you to the athletics club."

"Athletics club?" I'd never even considered going to one before. "That'd be great!"

"Good. It's every Friday at lunch, and we're currently training for Sports Day."

"In winter?" Sports Day was usually in summer.

"Here at Wapping Gardens we pride ourselves in being unique." Yeah. Seemed like that. "Now, go. Get changed or you'll miss your bus." Never mind that I didn't get a bus, I hurried away anyway.

**So, if you're a MUSEr, like Amy and I : ), who's excited about Matt Bellamy's baby? ME! I hope he has Matt's eyes. And talent. And...well...everything!**


	11. Chapter 11 Song

**BING!**

When we got in, I went into mine and Becca's room whilst she plonked herself in front of the telly and started watching some crap. I put my iPod in the speaker things and got started on the huge amounts of homework I had to do. We'd been overloaded with catch-up work-especially for the subjects I hadn't taken at St. Vlad's. I would never understand the American schooling system.

After a while, Becca walked in.

"Are you doing homework?" she sneered and, not even waiting for an answer, added, " You look like such a nerd."

"Yes, Becca, I _am_ doing homework because, in case you didn't realise, we have LOADS of work to do."

"Huh. Well, I'm going to read a magazine, so can you, I don't know, turn that music off or something. It's terrible."

"If you don't like my music you can-" But I was cut off by the singer yelling

'_Fuck off and die!'_ I chuckled.

"Exactly," I told her. She shook her head and I turned it down a couple of notches before getting back to work.

I knew when my playlist finished. It was the same playlist I'd had for ages, so I was really startled when another song came on. And it was one I'd never heard before. No, screw that. It was a _version_ I'd never heard before, but I recognised the song instantly. 'I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix)' by MUSE. One of my favourites. Except, the shocking thing was, Matt wasn't singing.

Lewis was.

I closed my eyes and listened to his gorgeous voice-I'd never heard him sing before. I could just picture the way he expertly played his guitar, nodding his head as he sang. And the piano was probably...Jill, I'd say. And Tom, one of Lewis' mates, on the drums.

_I can't find the words to say_

_They're overdue_

_I'd travel half the world to say_

'_I Belong To You'._

I took a deep breath, listening to the way his voice fluctuated, the way he lost his accent and it was just pure Lewis, pouring his heart out for me. I gasped when the French began, and suddenly, even though I'd always hated it, I loved the French language. I couldn't think of anything more romantic than,

_Verse moi ami. _

_Verse..._

_I belong..._

_I belong..._

_To You. Ahhhh-lone._

I felt a tear leak out of my eyes and roll down my cheek as the song finished, realising that Lewis had recorded this and hidden right at the end of my playlist, just waiting for me to find it. My heart squeezed as I realised-again- how bad I'd been to him. He'd been the best boyfriend in the world, the best love, and I'd thrown it away.

"Amy? Are you okay?" Becca murmured. I opened my blurry eyes and she actually looked genuinely concerned. I nodded feebly.

"Fine," I muttered.

"Was that..." she trailed off as I turned away.

"So," I wondered after an awkward ten minutes. "What happened with you and that blonde bitch at lunch today?"

"The one you openly humiliated?" she asked. "I mean-way to make an impression, Amy." I winked.

"That was my aim."

"I turned her down."

"Really?" I felt my eyes widen and then I threw my arms around her. "Thank you!"

"For...what?" I pulled back, realising what I'd just done.

"You didn't want to go there. I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you to The Plastics. Yeah, you're a bitch and you'd probably fit right in, but, I guess, I don't know..." She frowned at me, but I didn't really want to speak to her anymore.

The next day school continued on. I got a few evil looks from The Plastic girl, but nothing too serious. And, of course, Becca continued to amuse everyone with her Americanisms. There was one time where she was telling us about this outfit she wore to one of the discos at St Vlad's, and she said,

"I was wearing these really cool pants and suspenders with this...Hey, what's wrong?" She'd trailed off seeing the horrified looks on everyone's faces and, I swear, I'd never laughed so hard in my life.

That evening, I set up the laptop in front of us, and then typed in a site I used to laugh at with my friends.

"The American's guide to speaking British," Becca read out. "Hey, what's this? I know how to speak British!"

"No, you don't. You can speak _English_, but not British," I replied.

"So, after all those times you've been telling me they're the same thing, they have different languages?" Cue face-palm.

"No, dude, it's just you say all these Americanisms. Look, see here." We spent the rest of the evening trying to teach her how to speak and what not to do. Admittedly, I did miss out some vital information, just for my entertainment. However, I did enjoy her furious blush when she found out what pants and suspenders _really_ means!

When the next day finally came around, I left a Post-It Note on the kitchen surface (because Becca and Adrian were having a lie-in)and headed down to the gym area. I changed into my black vest top and some grey sports shorts and then began to stretch as more people arrived. There were two girls who looked like they were in need of some serious weight loss and a couple of boys crowded around one main kid. He was quite tall and looked like he came here often. I ignored them all and exercised by myself, working out until I was breathless. I'd pulled 70kg weights, done 200 press-ups and run 2 miles on the treadmill by the end. After a quick shower, I jogged back home, happy that I'd had some exercise and I wasn't going to get _too_ out of shape. I planned to stay able at fighting, especially as Becca and Adrian would need me. I was their guardian.

http: /www (dot) effingpot (dot) com/clothing (dot) shtml

**Here's the website if you want to laugh at Becca's expense! Take out the (dot)'s. **


	12. Chapter 12 Hazel

**Inspired by: Behind these Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson**

And school continued on, I guess. I honestly didn't expect it to, but we stayed fairly well hidden. No guardians, no Strigoi, nothing unusual. Everything seemed normal. It was only as November floated in on a gust of bone-chilling wind, that I realised something.

I was bored.

And I could understand why. I'd been a fool to think I could just go back to a normal life, knowing now what powers and abilities I really possessed, knowing what I could really do with my life. I'd been stupid to think that I could possibly accomplish my previous dreams when better things were lying ahead.

And another problem: Becca was dyslexic. I never knew. She'd been really struggling at school, and it was only when she was reading one of her stupid magazines and I had nothing better to do than do my guardian impression-basically spying on her with an excuse-I realised it took her at least 20 minutes to get through one page. No wonder she'd been terribly behind. Dyslexic people were likely to struggle enough in a normal comprehensive school without an assistant to help them, let alone an advanced grammar school. We worked at a much faster pace than most schools. I was really starting to think this had been an awful idea.

When I sat down for lunch one day, Becca gave me an odd look.

"Amy?" she asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Sure," I mumbled. "Why wouldn't I be?" She raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'why would you _not_ be?'

"You look off."

"I'm just feeling a little queasy, that's all." I excused myself from the table, ignoring the two sets of eyes that watched me leave, and went to the bathroom.

I stared at my face in the mirror. Becca had been right-for once. I _did_ look off. I was just so sick of this place, living on a back road in the middle of London going to a human school. I'd thought that we could mingle again, but I missed the excitement of a dhampir life. What about all the great things I could do? It wasn't like I could be successful here without the guardians noticing me. My hazel eyes flashed in the mirror and I hardened again, perfectly pulling off the hard expression that scared all my classmates. I thought back to my old friends. I'd been sweet-faced back then, completely, well almost completely, sweet and innocent. I'd been sociable, a bit nerdy, a fun. Who had I become? I hardly recognised myself anymore. It was a shocking thought.

The next day we went into school and received some rather unusual news.

"Girls, next week is our annual school sports day!" one of the PE teachers told us during registration.

"What's that?" Becca asked me. I gave her a look. "What? We never had sports day at St. Vlad's."

"Well," I explained. "Usually people take part in different sports to get points for their house."

"Miss Toran?" the teacher called. "Is there a problem?"

"I was just wondering why sports day was in winter. Isn't it usually in summer?" I lied smoothly, because I was quite curious.

"Our school prides itself on being unique. I trust you will be taking part in at least one of our activites."

"Uh...sure?" Becca gave me a stupid nudge as the teacher pinned a sheet of paper up on the board.

"I expect many of you to be taking part, so sign your names here." Becca shrank back and I stood up, preparing to go and sign up for my first ever sports day. I'd never taken part before, just done the stupid cheering on the stands.

However, when I got there, the only slot left was 1500m.

"Are you kidding me?" I cried out. Everyone shrugged. I huffed and put my name down, desperately hoping I wasn't going to regret this.


	13. Chapter 13 Race

**So, I kind of set this one in time to music, a bit like Silken Rose and The Emptiness. The chapter is to Knights of Cydonia by MUSE. **

As I stood at the beginning of the track, wondering how Sports Day had come around so fast, I looked around me. The girls next to me were setting up and practising jogging. I flexed my back and took some deep breaths, preparing for what I had ahead. Sure, it was only a mile, but I hadn't trained properly for a while.

We stood in position behind the white line, leaning slightly forwards. There was a dramatic movie moment-the kind where the opposing teams give each other the serious close-up looks-as we took our places.

"Three!" The crowd went silent.

"Two!" I could hear my own heart beating fast alongside my breathing.

"One!"

The gun shot and we set off. I sprinted away, way ahead of everyone else. Obviously their technique was jogging the way around. I slowed down once I was about 100m ahead of them and jogged, just a little bit faster than they were going. The world rushed past me and my feet blurred as I stared at the floor. I gaped as I saw the leisure centre rented by the school go by in a blip. From my position, I was able to get a 360 degree view of the field events going on in the middle, and I hoped I wasn't distracting them.

As I went past the stands for the first time, I saw flashes of red posters and the H House chant being cheered. People were screaming my name and I felt myself flood with the adrenaline. I'd never been a 'front-man' type of person, but there were definitely perks. There was a little Mexican wave going on up front.

Just for the good of the spectators, I sped up, pushing myself as fast as I could go for the next round of the track. I sped around, watching the same scenery go by and trying to be as fast as I could. The sights were a mish-mash, even for my dhampir eyes. My breath fogged up in front of me from the cold air and I shivered in my thin shirt and shorts. I should've worn a jumper like the humans did. They were sensible.

I timed my footing so that I didn't trip, and analysed every move I made. I found myself wondering whether I would've outrun a Strigoi by now, and it was beginning to get to me. I then passed the stand for a third time and blocked out all the noise so it looked like a sort of silent movie.

I sped past them, ignoring them completely, and sprinted towards the finish line. I could see it in sight. Everything went slow motion. I slid into place and watched as the other competitors jogged past. One of the girls had been lapped twice by the front runner. The problem didn't sink in until someone yelled,

"Amy! You've still got another lap!"

Shit. I scrambled up as the crowd yelled,

"Come on, Amy!"

I sped off, kicking up sand as I went. My leg muscles powered me forwards, but I still found myself lagging behind. _Pretend there's a Strigoi_, something told me. I imagined it behind me and pushed myself further forwards, running like a bat out of hell as I sped around the course. People blurred beside me as I weaved my way through, determined not to lose this race. The front runner had now picked up a sprint, and I used my last ounce of energy to get up behind her. _Come on, come on._ I breezed past and skidded across the finish line before collapsing in a heap.

The cheers erupted all over the stadium.


	14. Chapter 14 Party

The rest of the Sports Day went well. Becca and I watched the events going on in the Field and we bought some crisps from the snack stall. I was awarded Athlete of the Year for year 11 and got given this little trophy thingee with a person running on it, which was pretty cool. Of course, Becca was squealing with delight and going on and on about it. She never stopped jabbering. And, of course, she had to relay the tale to Adrian when we got back.

"...she slid in and we were all like, 'No! Amy! You've got another lap!' and she'd already been overtaken and she sprinted off and..." she told him. I have a feeling Adrian zoned out, which wasn't surprising. What _was_ surprising, however, was that there was an after school party and I was invited. It was one of those House Parties that only popular people get invited to-i.e. everyone but me and my chums. I was used to hearing all sorts of stories about how they all got drunk and were doing saucy things with boys they've never even met before. Even the teachers gossiped about it, which was quite amusing.

"Which one should I wear?" Becca asked, holding up two equally disgusting jumpsuits. "Red or blue?"

"Why the hell are you asking me?" I exclaimed.

"Good point." I think she chose the blue one in the end because it matched her eyes. I slung on some nice jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, not really knowing what to expect, and she turned her nose up at me. I rolled my eyes.

We made our way over to the house, which wasn't too hard to found once we knew where abouts it was. The music was thumping wildly and there were people sat on the front lawn drinking. As we made our way in, one of them tried to squeeze Becca's arse, and I flipped him the finger alongside the Hathaway glare so he backed off. Inside was manic. People were crammed in the room like sardines in a tn. It was hot, sweaty, loud and horrible. Over in the corner someone was spiking the punch with vodka and I shook my head with a smile. I followed Becca around, because she seemed to know what she was doing, and grabbed some drinks on our way out to the garden. I sniffed them, and could immediately taste alcohol at the back of my throat. Becca grabbed one from me and I warily lifted my own to my lips, sipping it gently. It was actually quite nice.

The garden was a better place to be. Sure, there were a few people making out behind a bush, but if you ignored them and found someone to sit and chat to, it was nice. The air was cool and refreshing compared to the hot interior. I was just relaxing, when some guy came up to me.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Who the hell are _you_?" I wondered back.

"I asked first." I folded my arms.

"Amy. Amy Toran."

"I'm Jack from the boy's school." Oh yes. The boy's school across the road. That made sense. "Are you new?"

"Yeah. My friend Becca and I," I gestured to Becca, "joined in late September."

"Uh...there's no-one there." I froze.

"What?"

"You're pointing to a tree." I whipped around and scanned the garden. Becca was no where to be found.

"Shit! Sorry. I've got to find her." He frowned at me as I hurried into the house, squeezing my way past all the people.

"Becca!" I yelled over the music, but got no reply. "Hey, guys, has anyone seen Becca?" The girl next to me shook her head. I made a path through the gyrating bodies until I got to the front door. And there she was, flirting with some guy. Or, rather, he was touching her up and she was so drunk she was allowing it.

"Oi, bastard! Get your hands off my friend!" He turned towards me. He was quite tall and buff and looked pretty scary.

"Who are you calling a bastard?" he hissed.

"Oh, let me think, YOU!"

"Little girl, you did NOT want to mess with me." Oh didn't I?

"Let's make a deal," I told him sweetly. "I beat you in a fight, and you leave my friend alone, alright?" He laughed and a couple of his mates joined in.

"_You_ beat _me_? Go ahead." I shook my head.

"Not here."

"Why not? Afraid to get your clothes ruined?"

"I don't give a damn about my clothes. I was just being nice, you know, allowing you to avoid getting your arse kicked in front of all of these people." By now, many of the party guests were staring at us. He laughed.

"Fine. Meet me at the gym at 9am tomorrow."

"Oh, it's on!" He walked away and everyone else turned away, gossiping and staring at us.

"What the hell did you think you were playing at?" I asked Becca as soon as he was out of ear-shot. "You don't even know that guy!"

"I...I don't know. I didn't think-"

"Damn straight you didn't think. What about Adrian? You know, that guy you're in love with? Didn't he cross your mind at all?" She looked down, clearly ashamed, and I grabbed her arm. "Come on. We're getting out of here."

When we got home, Becca went straight to bed, clearly drunk out of her mind. I went outside onto the little balcony thing and breathed in the fresh air to clear my brain. It was just too hard havig to constantly look after someone else. It was bad enough that she was completely helpless, let alone stupid as well. I sighed and leaned against the railings, allowing the wind to whip my hair to the side as I looked out over the Thames.

And suddenly there was a pressure on my back. My feet left the floor and I catapulted over the edge of the railing, screaming as I fell 14 floors through the air before splashing into the Thames.


	15. Chapter 15 Water

**Sorry for the cliffhanger :D**

**I was listening to 'The International End Credits' by Matt Bellamy whilst writing this.**

I plunged into the water and my lungs were immediately filled with icy cold water. Because it was November. In England. And it was cold. I felt the chill spike up my back as I desperately swam back to the top. I broke through and spat out a load of water before breathing in heavily and ducking under with my breath held to avoid another wave of water. It was disgusting and polluted, but all I could concentrate on was trying to stay alive. I reached out for something, but my hands found no purchase, instead sloshing through the water. I felt another wave rush towards me as I attempted to tread water, and suddenly I was being dragged upstream. I tumbled through the water, accidentally breathing in a gallon of it, and found myself disorientated. Which way was up? My mind was so clouded.

I broke through the surface and gasped, only to receive another mouthful of crap. What had the man on the tour said? _Not even an Olympic swimmer could swim against the tide._ Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. I tried to keep my head up, swimming with the flow instead of against it. I looked back, but couldn't even make out our flat in the distance.

And then, as if by some sort of miracle, I saw a boat.

"Hey!" I called, my voice hoarse from all the water. "Help! Please!" Someone on the boat turned towards me, and I waved my arms around, slowly sinking beneath the waves. I coughed and spluttered as I made my way back up again.

Someone threw out a life ring for me and I swam towards it gratefully, choking on the water. It was attached to a rope with which they hauled me in. I held on for dear life as the boat came closer and closer, and then scrambled up the side. It was slippery with water. I grabbed hold of the bars and yanked myself up, thanking some higher power that I'd done a lot of training with Rose and had strong arms. I swung myself over the side and landed face down on the floor. I lay there shivering in a pool of river water, too numb to get up.

The boat drove to the next port, where I was unceremoniously dumped on the dock. I thanked the man driving it, but he ignored me. Obviously he had somewhere to be. I was grateful anyway. I was about a mile from the apartment, so I trekked back through the streets of London. They were still busy, despite the late hour. Many of the nightclubs I'd never noticed before were making themselves known with music thumping so loudly, the ground was vibrating beneath my feet. It'd would've been okay-if it was decent music. I stuck to the railings beside the Thames so that I didn't get lost in amongst the labyrinth of roads. I'd probably get hit by a car or something. That'd be just my luck.

As I walked, I wrapped my arms around my torso. The November wind whipped past me, and my clothes clung to my body. I shuddered. Even _I_ couldn't withstand this cold. I'd bet even _Dimitri _couldn't stand this cold.My legs felt like they were made of ice, and my steps slowed each time I walked.

And then someone stepped out. A dark alleyway I hadn't been paying attention led onto this road, and I turned just in time to see a man follow me. He was gaining on me quickly. I stopped, and relaxed my shoulders.

"Hey," he called. "Sweetie, you look lost. Need my help?" As he came up behind me, his smell overpowered me. He was wreathed in the scent of alcohol and cigarette smoke. I tried not to gag. He gripped my shoulders and I grit my teeth. He spun my towards him and grinned wickedly before raising his eyebrows suggestively. He was a drunken slob, with a baldy shaven chin that was coated in the evening stubble and greasy hair. He eyed my soaking body. "Perfect. Come on then."

"No," I told him, standing my ground.

"What was that, sugar?" He didn't even look surprised.

"No. I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Nah, don't be like that. I'm safe. Does Mummy not want you going home with strangers."

"_Mummy_ doesn't even know I'm here," I snapped.

"Ooh, a bad girl are we?" He smirked and I squeezed my eyes shut as he grabbed me around the waist.

_3..._

"Off we go, then, no, don't fight me," he coaxed, dragging me down the alley. I wasn't fighting.

_2..._

He faced me and gave me one last appraising look before muttering,

"Huh, not even 16, I bet. Just how I like 'em."

_1..._

He shrugged off his jacket.

_Now._

My fist swung out to connect with his jaw and I put as much power as I had behind it. His face swung to the side and I heard my knuckles crackle. He swore and clutched his chin.

"Jesus," he seethed. "What was that for?"

"I told you that I wasn't coming," I replied sweetly, and I turned to go, not expecting the hand that yanked back on my arm. He held me in a steel grasp and yanked open my top button. I growled in anger as he smiled. I took a deep breath and slipped out of his grasp, contorting myself over so that I could get out and bend his arms at the same time. He howled and let go. I whipped around and socked him in the stomach before kicking him where it hurts and sprinting off. As soon as I made it to the main road, I jogged for a few minutes and then slowed down to catch my breath. I'd lost him. My icy fingers did my button back up, as my legs sagged beneath me.

"Keep going..." I muttered, but my legs wouldn't obey me. I couldn't control them anymore. They bent at the knee and I found myself collapsing, slinking to the floor. I pressed my face against the concrete. It was cold, but it was warmer than I was. I curled up, wrapping my arms around my bent and heavy legs, and squeezed my eyes shut before coughing up another load of river water. The last thing I saw was the blurred image of a streetlamp flickering on.


	16. Chapter 16 Denial

**Woah! Long time no see! Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger, guys :/ **

"She's okay, I think," a male voice murmured.

"Are you sure? She looks kind of out of it," a girl answered him. I shifted awkwardly, suddenly becoming aware of something hard pressing into my back. I coughed weakly and inched open my eyes. My head swam as I vaguely took in my surroundings. I was still curled up on the pavements beside the river underneath the dim light of a streetlight. A familiar face peered into my eyes.

"Yep, she's alive," Adrian confirmed. "Jesus, Amy, what did you think you were doing? You just disappear. I come out and you're gone! You could've been killed, or raped, or kidnapped or something." I mumbled something incoherently and glanced at Becca who was holding one hand to her head and the other was gripping the railing. She still seemed a bit dizzy. "Well, come on, then. Get up."

I stretched my fingers and shivered. I tried to pull myself to my feet, but it took so much effort.

"I thought you dhampirs were supposed to be all strong and mighty," Becca sneered. I grumbled something, my legs too heavy to move. Suddenly I felt the floor fall away and a pain that drew out along my arms. My eyes widened and I swivelled my head as my legs trailed along the floor. Adrian dragged me along by my hands to the car parked at the side, where he swung open the door and dumped me in the passenger seat, sighing. He let Becca in the back before slamming his own door and driving off. It was a couple of miles back to the apartment. I'd obviously travelled far.

At the other end I staggered out of the car and fumbled towards the entrance. We rode up in the lift and I felt my stomach grumble. Adrian snorted and I leant my head against the wall, shutting my stinging eyes. He twisted the key in the lock and we went inside. I padded to our room and wrapped my blanket around myself before returning to the main room and plonking myself on the sofa. I bundled myself up and sat shivering, teeth chattering.

"Amy, are you really okay?" Becca asked me quietly, sitting on the sofa beside me.

"I-I'm fffine," I muttered, taking deep breaths of perfect air. She shook her head and got up again. All these up and down was going to give me a headache. She flicked on the TV and returned with a mug of hot chocolate. She handed it to me awkwardly and sat at the other end of the sofa. I gave her a grateful smile, feeling the warmth radiate to my numb fingers. When I sipped at it, it burnt my tongue but the taste was silky smooth. I found the remote and flicked through the channels. When I settled on something, Becca grimaced.

"Action movies? Seriously?" she groaned. I grinned and settled back into my seat, rubbing my arms and coughing occasionally.

"The Bourne Identity," I informed her. "This is the best film known to man."

"Sure. Looks great." Matt Damon, in all his glory, sprinted down one of the alleyways and whipped a gun out of his pocket, swearing at his attacker in one of the many languages he knows. Without the other even knowing, he snuck up behind him and gave him one kick in the gut to take him down, another to shut him up. Then he shot him three times in the stomach with his silencer before racing off.

I felt the sofa sink as Adrian sat down next to me and put his arm around Becca.

"I know what you're thinking, Amy," he told me, rolling his eyes. I frowned.

"Oh yeah?"

"MI6 won't take you this young." I sighed. I _had_ been thinking something along those lines. It had been only recently when I realised I really needed to do something. I'd actually considered going into the secret services. It sounded like the ideal life of action and visiting new places. It sounded challenging. It sounded exhilarating. It sounded _fun_.

"They might? My 'exceptional abilities' could come in handy." I knew how to fight like Jason Bourne. I wasn't quite as good, yet, but that's what I'd been taught. I could easily take down a human.

"Yeah. Great. You go ahead and do that." The sarcasm was obvious. We sat in silence and watched the movie. I was clearly enjoying it the most, leaning forward with my elbows resting on my knees and crying out when he lost the fight for a second, but Adrian seemed quite interested too. Becca just looked disgusted.

"Amy?" Adrian asked softly. "Why did you leave?" I glanced up at him, defensive. He already knew why I left.

"Leave where?"

"Leave here? Where did you go?" I let a sigh of relief.

"I didn't leave. I...I think,"

"Yes?"

"I was on the balcony. I was admiring the view, I think."

"Riiiiight..." He seemed dubious.

"And...I felt something..on my back. A...a hand, or something."

"A hand?" I nodded. "You really think somebody pushed you?" I nodded again. "Into the river?"

"Yep."

"Oh, come _on_. I wouldn't do it! Becca wouldn't do it! Who else is there?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't have jumped in myself! I'm not stupid!"

"Really? Because I've seen you do some pretty stupid things before." I turned my glare on him and he shrank back under the full effects.

"Everything I do," I spat, "I do for a reason. There is no need for you to criticise my actions. At all. I know what happened to me. I was pushed into the Thames." He shrugged and held his hands up in front of him.

"Fine. Fine. Whatever you say, you know." I got up slowly and headed for the bedroom.

"I'm going to bed. I've got a bet to win tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 17 Bet

**So guys, turns out that I forgot to mention on the last chapter that Wednesday the 7****th**** (aside from being Dom Howard's birthday :D not that you needed to know...) was the year's anniversary of this story! Yup. Chapter 1 of Sunset was posted on the 7****th**** of December last year. Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy what's to come :D**

My alarm beeped at eight the next morning and I slammed it down with my fist, my eyes snapping open. I hadn't slept well, waking up all night at ungodly hours that shouldn't be spoken of. It was a nightmare. I went through the normal daily procedures, not bothering to avoid waking the Moroi. They had to get used to it. I lived here too.

After I'd satisfied my hunger and shrugged on a jumper and some jeans, I headed down to the gym. I handed over my membership card and paid before heading in. I changed into my shorts and a white t-shirt that I usually saved for sleeping in before heading out to the main gym area. There was no sign of the guy I was due to fight. I smirked to myself and started stretching.

Ten minutes later the door flew open and the boy arrived in jogging bottoms and a jumper with his sleeves rolled up.

"I thought you'd wimped out on me," I told him, laughing.

"Wimp out on a girl?" he scoffed. "I don't think I want to fight you, you know. You look even more delicate now I'm sober." I frowned, hoping that he'd have a hangover and get distracted.

"Is that your excuse for bailing? You don't think you can take me?"

"I _know_ I can take you."

"Then bring it on." I pulled out a mat into the middle of the room. He stepped on and got into a fighting stance. I stood coolly in front of him.

"Okay, I win and you stay away from us for the rest of your lives. Even as a drunk," I declared.

"That's a bit harsh."

"That's me."

"Fine. _I_ win and I get to take your little friend here on a nice date together." He winked and an uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. He didn't seem like the type for a 'nice date' and I hated that I was about to determine her near future with a fight. _Why are you doubting your skills?_ A voice that sounded eerily like Rose's asked me.

"Because it's been ages."

"Huh? What?" I suddenly realised I'd spoken out loud and I blushed, shaking my head.

"Nothing. Come on. Give it your best shot." _Let your inhibitions go._ I held myself straight, not bothering to get into any position. The guy shrugged and charged at me, arms wide open. I calculated that his arms were at waist height, so when I realised his tactic, I stepped to the side just before he reached me. His fingers brushed my side and I cackled.

"Missed," I informed him. He grumbled at me and swung around with his arm. I ducked and gave him an uppercut to his chin. Lightly, of course. I didn't really want to injure him too badly. He grimaced at me and clutched his jaw. There was going to be a nasty bruise there afterwards. He came at me once again and I prepared to move away. However, he predicted my move and kicked his leg forward. I tripped over and was unable to scramble up again before he grabbed my ankles and picked me up, swinging me across his shoulder. He whistled softly as I pounded my fists against his bag. I could tell it as hurting him, as the whistles briefly stopped with each punch, but it wasn't making it any looser. I twisted and squirmed but he only made his grip tighter. Dammit.

"Giving up?" he asked teasingly.

"Never." I inched my feet towards his head and kicked with all my force before slamming my fists into the back of his kneecaps. His legs buckled and his arms released as we both tumbled to the ground. I crawled out from underneath him only to pounce back on top of him. I pinned his arms down and used my legs to shove his ankles into the mat. He howled and writhed against me, and I struggled to keep his long body under my control. Freeing one hand, I slammed it down across his rib cage.

"Jesus, what was that for?" he yelled.

"That's for trying to kill everyone I love," I hissed.

"...what?" I blinked at his hushed tone and suddenly his eyes were green, not crimson, and his skin was tan, not white.

"I...I...I'm sorry...I don't..." I crept back off of him and let him get up.

"I guess you won, then." He looked disgruntled and I gave a light laugh, not wanting to rub it in but feeling better all the same. I let out a choked sigh of relief as I got my breath back, thankful that I'd not only defended Becca and won, but that I hadn't lost my skills. Well, not entirely. They still needed work. I held out my hand and he shook it before I walked away.

It was only when I arrived back at the apartment that I realised I never found out what his name was.


	18. Chapter 18 Mirror

Over the next couple of weeks, things got worse for me. Becca was beginning to get a cold from the chilly weather, and she was still struggling with the school work. So, stupidly, I took it upon myself to give her extra tuition. It didn't go down well.

"_I don't understand. Why does y equal 2x?" she muttered. We were both sprawled on the floor side by side with a maths textbook in front of us._

"_I just explained that, Becca. If you have y/2 = x, then you multiply both sides by 2 to get rid of it and that make y=2x."_

"_But _why?_ Why do you use letters in maths?"_

"_It's algebra, Becca. I thought you'd already done this."_

"_I'm _dyslexic_. I don't do letters."_

"_That doesn't mean you can't read. These letters aren't a word. They don't need to make sense. It's just a replacement for a number. Pretend that there's a number. Now. X=2 so the equation will still make sense."_

"_But why is x 2? Why can't it be 5?" I sighed._

"_Okay, you're just doing that on purpose now."_

"_No! I seriously don't understand this algebra thing! What's the point?"_

"_It's...it's for when you have an equation but some of it is missing."_

"_Why would it be missing? Who would be stupid enough to give you only half an equation?" I frowned._

"_The examiners, that's who. Maths was never my best subject, so just shut up and listen. I don't _know_ the point of algebra, but we need to learn it to pass. I'm not failing my GCSEs for you."_

By the end of our 'session', Becca had thrown the textbook at the wall and flounced out of the room in a rage, leaving me alone. Which, to be honest, was a preferable situation.

I was also suffering from awful dreams and hallucinations, so much so that I wondered if I'd accidentally taken something bad at the party the other week. Becca had eventually recovered from her hangover - which I teased her relentlessly about, I'll have you know – but it seemed it was all getting back on me. I tossed and turned like the bloody ocean all night and got up with bags under my eyes. Sleep was completely out of the question, for many reasons. I'd never been an easy sleeper. It wasn't uncommon for me to lie in bed for five hours just thinking about random stuff, but I usually managed to sneak in at least three hours of sleep. I could leave on that. I would be grateful for that. Unfortunately, my mind wasn't going to allow me any sort of relaxation.

Everytime I closed my eyes, all I could see was emerald staring right back at me, piercing my soul. The first time it happened, my eyes flew open in shock. They'd seemed so real. My heart had twisted just like it usually did when he gave me the full-on look and I could've sworn I felt him lying beside me, his weight slightly dipping the bed towards him as he lounged in the duvet. Until I remembered that I wasn't actually sleeping on a bed, I was sleeping on a blanket on the floor, and the dream shattered.

I didn't see him again for a couple of days, but he suddenly appeared when I was working in Biology. He was sat on the vacant stool beside me, and my heart thundered as I turned towards him. He smiled at me, that small, private smile that he only shared with me. I could just see the glimmer of teeth between his lips as his cheeks raised and his eyes sparkled. I slid my arm towards him across the table, wanting to interlace our fingers, to feel the warmth radiating off him in the chilly classroom. But then my teacher walked towards me to check my work and he passed straight through Lewis who dissipated into thin air. I gasped and watched him fade away, the teacher giving me an anxious look.

The next day, I had just taken a shower and I was brushing my hair in the bathroom. As I turned to put the hairbrush down, I caught a glimpse of gold. Startled, I staggered backwards and stared openly at the mirror. Lewis was standing there, his hair curling and darkening at the ends from the damp, steamy air, his eyes sparkling as they caught mine. I whirled around only to see thin air, but when I turned back to the mirror he was still there.

"Lewis," I choked out. He smiled at me.

"Amy," he murmured. My knees felt weak and I gripped the edge of the sink to keep myself up. "I love you." I nodded, stunned into silence. Inside my mind, I was screaming. _What are you doing? Talk to him!_ But nothing came out. I stood, stupefied, and waited for him to says something. He just looked at me, ever patient. My lip quivered and I bit down on it, the shakes transferring to my hands.

There was a knock at the bathroom door and I leapt out of my skin as I turned to see the handle wiggling.

"How long are you gonna be, Amy?" Becca asked. "School starts soon." I turned back to the mirror anxiously, but he'd disappeared. I sighed and took a deep breath.

"Yeah," I croaked out. "Just a sec."

"Are you okay? You sound kind of ill..."

"I'm fine." I squeezed my eyes shut and leant against the wall, running a hand through my hair. _Get a grip._ I set down the hairbrush that I was still gripping tightly and left the bathroom, bracing myself for the day ahead.

However, he appeared all the time now. Everywhere I looked he was there. His voice echoed in my head as he commented on my life now. As the days passed, we both began to relax a little. His started making sarcastic comments on how boring life was in London and I ignored them, laughing silently. Sometimes I would talk back to him when I was alone. It was always difficult in public because I had an urge to reply to him-common courtesy of course. However, when I did slip and speak aloud, I got weird looks from everyone. Any social progress I may have made went down the drain immediately. People whispered about me when they thought I wasn't in earshot and I sat alone. It was the same old story. When I'd thought I was a human it took me ages to make friends. When I went to the Academy, things had calmed down after being the 'hot new thing' died away. And now here. Socially awkward. How did I even think having a new start would help anything?

It didn't help that Lewis was coaxing me back to the Academy.

"It's boring here," he moaned. "All this power you have, all the possibilities, and you're wasting your life away learning stupid stuff in the middle of London. Come back. Come back with me." Seeing him now just made me ache to see him more and I felt myself being drawn back. It was hard to resist the tug. In fact, it was hard to feel anything anymore, to be honest.


	19. Chapter 19 Blade

A couple of evenings later, I was soaking in the bath. For once, I had enough to time to relax, so I chose the bath over the shower and let the warmth soak through my skin. My hair floated beside me, as if somebody had injected ink into the water. As I came up for air, I shoved my hair flat against my head. Beads of water trickled down the side of my face. The air was steamy and smelt of my lemon-flavoured shower gel. I pulled the plug out and stood up, reaching for a towel.

I shivered in the towel and drip-dried on the floor by myself. Lewis was at least respecting my privacy, just as he would've done if he were actually here. Always the gentlemen. When I felt my body was respectably dry, I tugged on a pair of worn pyjamas and wrapped the towel around my hair in a turban on my head. It flopped over the side clumsily and my hair spiralled out of it. Sighing, I slung it back over the shower rail and tried not to squirm as my hair stuck to the back of my shirt.

I rolled up one of my trousers legs and felt my leg. It felt a bit prickly, too much for my liking. When was the last time I'd been free enough for a quick shave? I calculated on my fingers-at least two months. Okay, so it _was _winter, but I decided to take the opportunity I had at hand.

I wet my leg and squirted some shaving foam into my hand before rubbing it in. It overwhelmed the smell of my shower gel, unfortunately, as it wasn't as pleasant. I began methodically dragging the razor up my leg and rinsing it in the sink, just as I'd been doing for two years. Over this time I'd become a lot better at keeping my legs intact, and I usually escaped without a single nick in my skin.

However, today wasn't my day, either. In fact, nothing seemed to be my day recently. The razor blade caught deep into the skin. I gasped as the shock of pain jolted up my leg and pulled my hand back, managing to pull some of my skin away with it. I peered anxiously at my leg and my eyes widened at the sight of dark blood streaming out of the gash. How deep had I even _gone_? I swung my legs out of the bath and snatched the toilet roll, pulling of several sheets and shoving them on the cut. Didn't pressure stop the bleeding?

I carefully set the razor on the side, out of the way where I couldn't accidentally cut myself again, and replaced my makeshift bandage. In the few seconds it took to swap them over, blood was already streaming down my leg again.

"Jesus," I muttered. How much blood did one girl have? _Too much information there_, I thought to myself with a small smile. _I'll go and get a plaster. Why aren't they in the bathroom? _Oh yes, now I remembered. The plasters were in the kitchen. Becca had tripped over at school. I hobbled to the door and unlocked it with one hand, the other pressing down on my leg. However, I never made it out.

I was bowled over by Adrian shooting into the room.

"Adrian!" I cried. He stared at me, eyes wide, nostrils flared, and got right up in my face. The 8 inch height difference had never bothered me before, but now I felt...trapped. My hands shook as his curdled with a foreign hunger.

"Becca?" I called uneasily. Adrian's eyes were turning black. "Becca? A little help. Your boyfriend is..uh..." What _was_ he doing? I didn't understand.

And the suddenly he was on the floor. I threw my hand forwards to help him back up, stunned, but he gripped my leg tightly. My stomach curled. "Adrian? What are you- ADRIAN!"

His teeth clamped around my leg and began sucking blood out of the cut.

"Adrian! What are you doing?" Blind panic overtook me. "Becca! Where are you? HELP ME!" What the hell was wrong with him? I yanked my leg out of his grasp, but he somehow managed to steal it back. His reflexes weren't supposed to be that good. I was a dhampir, he was a Moroi. How was he stronger than me?

My other leg give in suddenly, and I lost my balance. I fell to the ground, my head banging against the side of the bath. I shrieked and reached my hand up. There was definitely a lump there and...a warm, sticky wetness. Of all the things, this made Adrian crazier. His teeth tightened around my leg and suddenly the bliss overcame me. The endorphins rushed through my system as I lay there, and I felt my eyes fluttering closed.

_What are you doing?_ Lewis yelled at me, appearing out of nowhere. _You're letting a Moroi drink your blood! Don't go to sleep, Amy! Don't go!_ I smiled at his anxieties.

"Don't worry," I murmured. "I'll wake up in the morning." He shook his head, reaching out to yank Adrian away, but his ghostly hand passed through his shoulder and he faded out. I followed.

**Feedback is much appreciated :D**


	20. Chapter 20 Blur

I did come to. Eventually. My eyelashes quivered as I drowsily opened my eyes.

"Wha-what?" I stammered out, finding I was alone on the bathroom floor. The tiles were cool beneath my slightly sweaty palm and the lights were out. I could mumblings from the other side of the door and a raised female voice. Becca. But how had I got onto the bathroom floor? I tried to sit up but found my arms to weak to move. I panicked and called out.

"Help!" I cried, wondering why I couldn't get off the floor. The bathroom door opened and I was suddenly bathed in light from the hallway. Becca stood in the doorway, the light reflecting off her golden hair.

"Oh. You're awake," she mumbled. Adrian appeared behind her but she turned around and told him harshly to go away. He backed off and I frowned. Who'd got on the wrong side of her this morning? "How are you feeling?"

"Confused." My small voice surprised me. She nodded.

"Don't you...remember anything?"

"Should I? Why can't I get up? Becca, help me?" She crouched beside me and held out a hand, and I took it, trying to scramble to my feet. My knees buckled and I fell to the floor again, probably bruising me knee in the process. I swore. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Becca helped me to sit on the side of the bath, and I pressed one hand against the wall to keep myself up.

"You're weak. You...lost quite a bit of blood."

"Did I? W-What's going on? Why can't I remember anything?"

"It was Adrian. He...he drank your blood."

"HE WHAT?" I exclaimed, furious. "Why?"

"Shhh, calm down, you need to rest," Becca told me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Come on." I protested feebly as she dragged me out of the bathroom, my arms falling limp over her shoulders. Why was I so tired? I'd only just woken up. She lay me down on my bed and told me to rest. "That's an order." Then she flicked off the light and left me in darkness. I relaxed into the bed, stretching weakly. Hadn't she realised by now that I couldn't sleep just like that? It takes hours for me to sleep.

I started turning over different ideas in my mind. I was too weak to get up and confront Adrian myself, and Becca was determined to keep hiding things from me. I knew I would have to wait, but I could still think of a plan now. Where had he bitten me? Usually they go for the neck, considering that's the easiest place. My hands found my neck and I spread my fingers, searching for a wound, but there was nothing there. I check both arms, but not there either. However, when I searched my legs, I found two sharp marks that were slightly smudgy with blood. Obviously somebody had tried to clean it up and not down a very good job.

The weakness was messing with my head. I couldn't remember whether I'd ever been bitten by a Moroi before. For some reason I had a feeling I hadn't but I distinctly remembered a Strigoi bite. The first night I found out I was a dhampir. I sighed. Why did everything always come back to that?

But back to the present, why had Adrian bitten my _leg_, of all places? It's not like there were any prominent veins there or anything. And why had he bitten me in the first place? We'd been rationing out their blood quantities. I had no idea what they did for blood these days, but they didn't kill anyone, and they didn't take from me. I was their protector. They needed me strong.

I must have drifted off again, because the next time I opened my eyes, it was light. I'd slept fitfully throughout the night, but I couldn't really remember much of it, only a burning pain in my leg once the numbness left. I was going to kill Adrian when I had my strength back.

I lifted myself up and slid out of bed, happy to see that, although I was a little shaky, I was able to walk again. It would be a couple of days before I was back to normal, though. He'd taken a lot out of me. I went into the kitchen and made myself a bowl of cereal, somehow the first one up as per usual, and waited for Adrian whilst watching the telly.

He appeared about half an hour later with bags under his eyes. Good. Serves him right.

"Anything you'd like to tell me, Adrian?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow at him.

"Amy, I'm so sorry!" he blurted. "I didn't mean to do it! I don't know what came over me! It wasn't me, it was a monster! I was so thirsty and I just couldn't control it and then you cut yourself and I could smell blood and it just took me over and I'm really really sorry." I held my hands up in front of me, as if they could stop the flow of words. I was having a hard time discerning the sentences.

"Hang on, what do you mean, you couldn't control it?" He shook his head and I thought back to the manic look in his eye, that full on hunger. Where did I recognise that from? I'd seen it somewhere before, about a year ago. Somewhere...And then it came to me

"Spirit darkness."


	21. Chapter 21 Consideration

**Who's hyper for the NME Awards tonight? ME!**

I sat silently as I contemplated the spirit darkness. I felt the sofa squish beside me but ignored Adrian. The first, and only, time I'd come across spirit darkness so far was when I first arrived at the Academy and Lissa had screamed at me. She'd passed her darkness to Rose through the bond, who took it out on a pillow. Together the two of them managed to get rid of it. But Adrian didn't have a bond with anybody, or anybody there to help him through it. He had Becca, but she was too late. I expect that she probably helped him to chill out _after_ the episode, but she certainly wasn't a darn use when I was being involuntarily attacked.

"Why do you think it happened?" I asked Adrian quietly.

"What? The spirit darkness? I have no idea!" he cried. "I don't know why it happened. I don't know why it made me attack you!"

"When was the last time you...fed?" He pondered that for a moment.

"Probably about a week ago."

"A week?" I exclaimed. "Adrian, Moroi get weak after a couple of _days_ without blood. You should know that! You're supposed to be keeping strong. No wonder you attacked me!"

"Amy, look I'm really sorry, but I just can't go out there and feed off of people on the streets. It doesn't work like that."

"Other Moroi do it all the time." He shrugged.

"I used to. But...I don't know, I just don't think it's right. I don't want to hurt them, y'know? I don't think I can do it." I gave an exasperated sigh and ran a nervous hand through my hair, my fingers combing through the already present knots.

"Do you have any other suggestions as to how you can feed?" I wondered. He shook his head glumly and I anxiously rubbed the back of my neck- a little nervous habit.

Becca padded into the room.

"Maybe you could get it from the hospital?" she offered. We blinked at her for a second, too slow to realise that she'd probably overheard our conversation. "You know, like, getting it from a blood bank or something?" I laughed drily.

"I really don't think it'll be that easy. You can't just break into a hospital, Becca."

"They do it in movies easily enough. I'd say I've picked up a few tips." I leant back into the sofa, arms folded, smirk planted on my face.

"Go on?"

"Well, we walk in there and go up to one of the blood rooms to say we're getting a blood test and then we just...casually...steal one of the blood bags." I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned.

"A. You can't just steal a blood bag! It's never going to be that easy. And b. Haven't you thought about the morals of this? If you steal the blood bag, then the doctor won't have the sample they've taken it for. They don't just take samples and put them there. And a blood test bloody hurts!"

I winced at the memory of it.

"Excuse me, Amy, but your 'take-a-random-girl-off-the-street' idea wasn't exactly what I'd could human friendly," Adrian interjected. I gave him a harsh look.

"Well, let's hear your idea then!"

"...I think we should just go back."

An awkward silence settled on the room as Becca and I gaped at him.

"Go back...where?" Becca asked slowly.

"To the Moroi." I shook my head.

"That's really not a sensible idea," I mumbled, my stomach squeezing as I considered going back and facing everyone after what I'd done. No. That couldn't happen.

"I don't mean as we are. Maybe we could take a spirit disguise and just go to Court like this. Live as normal people."

"But wouldn't you miss your freedom?"

"Wouldn't you miss being a royal?" Becca frowned. I rolled my eyes.

He shook his head at both.

"Freedom has its downsides. Neither of us have fed for a week and the only person to protect us from Strigoi is you, and you're out at school half of the time."

"I'll stop school. If you need me, I'll quit school," I told him honestly. He shook his head.

"You left the Academy to start a new life, not to go out into the open. The whole point of going to school is catching up on what you missed so you could get a normal job. Guarding us was just an additional thing, not permanent. I'm just suggesting that it might be a lot easier if we go back?"

I frowned and got up to get ready for the day.

"I'll consider it."


	22. Chapter 22 Burn

**Just me then...**

**Oooh and this chapter is inspired by the song 'Let it Burn' by Red.**

_How long will you hide your face?_

_How long will you be afraid?_

_Are you afraid?_

Adrian's idea had me worrying for weeks. Go back? Surely he understood the risk with that? Could I face going back? Could I return to the disappointed faces of everyone I know? I'd let them down, I knew that, and I knew I should probably apologise at the very least. But, being the coward I was, I preferred just avoiding my former life completely.

But hanging out here, in the middle of London, wasn't all it was cracked up to be. If I was being totally honest with myself, I owed Becca and Adrian my life. Yes, I'd managed to wiggle my way into an underpaid job and rented a flat, but I knew that I wouldn't have lasted much longer if I hadn't stumbled across Becca in the alleyway that night. I hadn't had proper plans; I didn't suppose many people did when spontaneously running away. Sure, I wasn't usually the kind of person to lay out a detailed plan before I did anything, but I at least had some sort of consideration of my actions...most of the time.

Without a doubt, running away was the most reckless thing I'd ever done. I'd walked down the forbidden alleyway at night, resulting in being attacked by a Strigoi, I'd been trapped by the Strigoi and their helpers and jumped off a balcony to save my own life, I'd even been in a 2-against-8 fight with a bunch of the bloodsuckers on a cliff. Yet nothing could compare to leaving behind everything I'd ever known to start afresh. I'd been reading too many silly books, been overwhelmed by my overactive mind and for one second believed that a fifteen year old could really fend for herself in the sprawling city. It wasn't the Strigoi I was supposed to be afraid of, or even the guardians, but living alone. I'd been desperate to grow up since I was about four, bored by the routines of daily life, and I'd been eager to learn, to get a job, to rely only on myself and not be dependent on somebody else. But the adults were always right in the end. It just wasn't that easy.

Having said that, it wasn't ever that easy just to go back to normal either. As difficult as it was looking after both Adrian and Becca whilst juggling school work and monitoring our health, I was enjoying myself just a smidgen. I'll admit it- I liked being in charge. It was fun, a way to test my abilities. The only question was: had I taken it too far now?

These serious considerations occurred one evening in the shower. I was even more careful after the whole incident with Adrian a few days previously and, when I stepped out from the shower into the damp, misty bathroom air, I changed into my clothes straight away. As I was tugging a comb through my straggly hair-which was getting just a bit too long for comfort-I caught a whiff of something...off.

Frowning, I sniffed the air again. It smelled like somebody had burned the cooking or something. I glanced at the bathroom clock, clouded over with condensation. It was too late for anybody to be cooking. I'd made spaghetti just under two hours ago- my cooking 'skills' were improving due to being out here with two Moroi who couldn't cook either. Still, I wasn't too worried about it. Maybe it was just from outside. The window was open after all.

However, as I continued combing my hair, the fire alarm began wailing out in the hallway. I paused for a second, all my training and knowledge rushing through my head. I grabbed a towel from behind me and wrapped it around my hand, carefully approaching the bathroom door. I put my hand up to the wooden door, testing the heat. Slowly I opened the bathroom door, not sure what to expect. Had Adrian burnt the toast? Surely enough, when I reached the hallway, I couldn't see any devastating fire, but I could definitely smell the smoke.

I edged towards the kitchen door which I opened, only to reveal the kitchen looking as good as normal. I stuck my head in, checking for signs of the other two and shut the door, trying to find the source of the fire. Who cares what I'd learned before? If the fire wasn't a cooking accident, the other two could be in danger. A sudden idea came to me.

"Becca?" I called out. "Have you been practising your fire again?" Maybe she set off the alarm by accident, being a Fire wielding Moroi. However, she appeared behind me, shaking her head with an anxious expression. I felt my eyes widen.

"Where's Adrian?" she asked me. I shrugged and went towards the bedrooms. Maybe Adrian was reading? However, when I reached the door, the metal handle was boiling hot. I swallowed nervously and used the towel to open nudge the door open. However, what I saw was not a comforting sight.

"Becca! Get out of here right now!" I screeched, slamming the door back shut.

"What? What's going on?"

"The fire! It's in Adrian's room!" His room was ablaze, the glow from the fire hurting my eyes. I choked on an inhalation of smoke as she stood still in the hallway, shocked into silence. "Come _on_, Becca! Do you want to die?" I yanked on her arm and tugged her towards the doorway. I slammed the door shut behind us and, just before we got into the lift, I flicked on the handy 'Fire!' switch located by our door to signify the whole set of flats.

We rode down in the elevator and I watched Becca, guardian instincts rising within me, protective of her. However, we were halfway down when she seemed to come alive again.

"Where's Adrian?" she wondered quietly as I bit my nails anxiously. I paused and gulped audibly.

"He was... in his room, Becca." She stared straight at me.

"He didn't get out." I shook my head. "No. No that's not happening."

"Becca, his whole room has been engulfed by flames! He's probably dead already!" She gave me an ice cold look and raised her hand as if to slap me around the face just as the lift doors opened. I hauled her out of the building, a small collection of people already gathered at the foot of the building, staring at the top floor. I saw the smoke coming from the open bathroom window, but other than that, no external sign of the disaster.

"You are going in there and you are saving him," she told me.

"What? Are you insane? Becca, I can't get to him. I would if I could, I promise."

"How would you like it if it was Lewis? Pretend it's Lewis in there. You wouldn't leave him then, would you?" I squeezed my eyes shut for a breath and then reopened them, staring at Becca's earnest, pleading face. I nodded and then let her arm drop, heading back for the building and ignoring the cries of the people collected there.

I sprinted up the stairs, the lift too slow for what I needed. If I was going to attempt to save him, I needed to be speedy. Hopefully, if he was still able to, he would've tried to make sure he was safe. That would be the sensible thing to do, but was it the Adrian thing to do? However, when I reached floor 15, my legs were beginning to tire. 15 flights of stairs and another 9 to go. I panted for a second, realising how out of touch I was. Sure, I wouldn't have managed it all before, but I needed to make it. I had to make it. I _had _to.

I began repeating that mantra in my head, pushing my legs forward as I thought of Adrian trapped helplessly in the burning building. He was the Moroi I was bound to protect. He was also my friend, and it was all down to me to save him. I finally reached floor 24 and flung open our door, only to choke on the smoke and drop to my knees. The fire was obviously raging, as the smoke was now filling up the living room. _Heat rises_, I thought to myself, crawling across the floor to the hallways. Fire licked up the walls in the hallway and I found the towel I'd discarded earlier, trying to put out some of the smaller bits of fire as I passed. I then wrapped it once again around my hand and pushed open Adrian's door.

The heat was sweltering. I felt my skin prickle with sweat as I observed the scene in front of me, trying to figure out a path.

"Adrian!" I screamed over the roar of the fire. "Are you in there?" I crossed my fingers for an answer. I waited five seconds before a feeble,

"Help me!" sounded across the room.

"It's Amy! Where are you?"

"Over here! By the wardrobe!" His voice was getting weaker by the second, the fumes reaching his throat and choking him. I took in a deep breath and plunged further, cursing Adrian's room for not having a window. Surely that wasn't even legal? The fire was worse around here, travelling up the wardrobe doors and burning the wood. It singed my hair as I crawled through the flames, covering my mouth. Adrian was squashed between the wardrobe and his bed, hands over his mouth as he coughed up his lungs. Or, at least, it sounded like it.

His eyes widened and brimmed with tears when he saw me, although it may have been heat making them water uncontrollably. I reached for his hand and grasped at his wrist, tugging him towards me. He obliged, realising that he needed to let me lead this time. I dragged him back the way I'd come, avoiding the patches where the fire had obstructed my previous trail. We reached the door and I gasped involuntarily, resulting in a mouthful of smoke ensuing in a choke. The door was ringed by fire, and it had spread quickly down the hallway, patches of floorboard rotting away.

We headed towards mine and Becca's bedroom and I slammed the door shut as we entered. Adrian collapsed onto Becca's bed, eyes shut, hyperventilating. I threw open the cupboard doors and pulled out anything I could find: bedsheets, towels, dresses, anything. I pressed a towel to the bottom of the door, stopping the smoke and fire getting in, and then began knotting the longer pieces of material together. Adrian watched me warily.

"What are you doing?" he croaked.

"Making a sort of rope we can use to climb down," I informed him, my stomach squeezing with nerves. This was far worse than jumping off a balcony.

"Amy, we're 24 floors up." Yes. Thanks for reminding me.

"We'll use the balconies. There're balconies on every other floor. If we can get down to each balcony and yank this down with us then..." It was definitely a bad idea, but I couldn't think of any other way. The hallway was definitely a no go. This was the only safe room now.

I tossed the 'rope' out of the window, holding one end tightly. Adrian shook his head at me as he scrambled up off the bed.

"I just climb down this?" I nodded, holding the rope tight as he sat on the edge of the windowsill, his heavy breathing frosting up in the cool night air. He gripped the rope and slid over the side. I felt a tug on the sheets and held it tight with all my strength. His call came up to me, telling me he'd reached the next balcony, and I weighed down the 'rope' with a heavy book. Hopefully it would be enough to hold the rope there for me to climb down. However, as I swung my legs over the edge of the windowsill, I bit back a shriek. 24 floors up. My mind spun and my vision blurred, my phobia rearing its ugly head again. I trembled as I gripped the rope and began to ease myself down, occasionally using the bricks to help me keep my balance. As soon as my feet touched the balcony, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Adrian was signalling to the people below over the railing, and I was too preoccupied with figuring out how to unlock the balcony doors-technically it would be breaking and entering, but I figured that using somebody else's flat to get away from a fire was a legitimate excuse- that we didn't notice the person creeping up silently behind us. Adrian turned, made a small noise of protest at which I turned towards him just in time to see a dark figure attempting to shove Adrian over the edge of the balcony. Adrian fought desperately against them and I dropped my end of the rope, tackling the person to the floor. How dare they try to push him off? Who were they anyway? They weren't a Strigoi, but they had a mask on so I couldn't tell whether they were Moroi, dhampir or human. The person, whatever they were, struggled below me and suddenly struck a blow to my stomach. I doubled over in pain and rolled off, my knees scraping against the hard stone floor.

Before sprinting away, the masked figure shoved Adrian once more. I screamed, my hand instinctively reaching out and gripping his ankle and holding tight, the other arm clutching my wounded stomach. I heard Adrian's shout as he realised he was dangling over the edge of the balcony mingle with the cried of the people below. He was too heavy to pull back over, but I wouldn't be able to hold on long enough for the fire brigade to arrive. _Quick, come up with a plan_.

I stood up, ignoring the sharp pains in my stomach and yanked on Adrian's leg. He howled in pain as his knee locked against the metal railing, set in place. I used this as my balance as, steadily, I hauled myself over the metal onto the other side of the balcony, my feet balancing on the edge. I forgot about the height, I forgot about the fire. My mind was consumed by saving Adrian. His hair morphed into messy, golden blonde, his emerald eyes staring into my soul as he looked up at me, and it wasn't Adrian I was seeing any longer.

"Grip the edge of the stone," I instructed him, and he followed suit, his knuckles white with the effort. Slowly, I lifted his leg off to railing and he shook, whimpering as I held him against the metal with my hand pressed against the small of his back so he was practically doing a handstand on the edge of the balcony. "Use one hand to grab the metal and swing your legs so that you're standing upright." I held him up, my arms wrapped around his torso and gripping him in place at the same time as keeping us both on the balcony, as he adjusted himself. I allowed him a moment to breathe, imagining he must be light headed, and I ducked into a crouch, placing my hands on the edge and holding tight, swinging my legs over the side so that they dangled in the air. I'd done this before. I knew how to do this. I'd been taught.

I let go with both hands and landed painfully on the next balcony down, my stomach following soon after. My ankle twisted slightly, reminding me of the pain in my stomach, and I tested the doors to this balcony as I waited for Adrian. He landed beside me, almost topping into a plant pot before I caught him, and I fumbled with the door before it swung open. We sprinted through to the main door, my ankle protesting the whole way and Adrian complaining as he stumbled down the stairs. I wrapped an arm around his waist to take some of his weight as he we hurried breathlessly down the twenty flights of stairs.

When we broke through into the air, the crowd were silent as they nervously waited for us, wondering where we'd disappeared to. Adrian fell into Becca's arms, the latter sobbing into his shoulder. I collapsed into a heap in the middle of the pavement, curling in on myself as I hugged my torso. Watching the two of them embrace was too painful for my heart. The loneliness was ripping me open, my stomach was in agony, and my ankle was still twisted, but probably not sprained. Why had I done it? For Adrian.

**Haha, that was quite a long one. I was going to split it in two, but I figured I'd be nice after the catastrophe! :D**

**And I do recommend you listen to that song, because all the lyrics were perfect for this story. **


	23. Chapter 23 Plan

"Hey, Amy, are you okay?" Adrian's voice floated to my ears and I poked my head out of my curled-up position to blink at him. "Here, let me help you." He knelt down beside me and placed his hand on my leg. I felt the magic beginning to flow and then-

"No, Adrian," I mumbled. "You can't. We're surrounded by people." True to my words, people began turning towards us, the crowds gaping as they took in my small form sprawled on the floor.

"Someone get an ambulance," I heard somebody hiss, and I shook my head, standing shakily and gritting my teeth against the flare of pain in my ankle. I leant on Adrian and he guided me to the side, where I sat down on a step and put my head in my hands.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked. He shrugged, his face solemn.

"The apartment's probably ruined," he told me. I frowned.

"All your stuff was in there..."

"You don't think I'm going to worry about money, do you?" A small flickered at the edge of his lips.

"S'pose not. We'll...should we get a hotel room, just for tonight?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan." He nodded and held out his hand for me to take, helping me up off the stone step. Becca made her way through the crowd towards us, my rucksack hanging off of one of her fingers.

"Had time to throw a bag together?" she teased, handing it over. I shuffled forwards.

"Only the necessary stuff." We turned to go down the road and find a hotel, not wanting to look back at the flaming apartments, but somebody grabbed my shoulder. I spun around, fists balling up, ready to defend myself if necessary, but it was just somebody informing me that the fire services were on their way. And, sure enough, we heard the sounds of wailing sirens as two massive engines hurled around the corner and stopped in front of the block. I wondered if they'd be able to reach that high up but I assumed they'd been told what to do in a situation like this. As long as they put it out.

"Hey, you were the girl that went back up to save that guy, aren't you?" a young man from behind me asked.

"Um..ye-"I croaked, and then cleared my throat, "yeah, I am."

"Why did you do it?" I stared at him.

"Pardon?"

"Why did you do it? You risked your life to bring him down. We all saw what happened up there. Even if you weren't killed in the fire, you nearly fell on your way down." I twisted the straps of my rucksack nervously in my hands, trying to think of a decent answer.

"He's part of my...my family. I couldn't leave him up there."

"You're related?" Did we have a cover story?

"Um, n-not exactly. Well, we're, um, he's my step-brother." Yeah. That made sense. The guy nodded, noting it down on a piece of paper that appeared out of nowhere.

"Can I just get your name? And age?"

"Why do you have that? What are you doing with that piece of paper?" I demanded, pointing at it and avoiding the question.

"This'll make a brilliant story. I'm a journalist. Everyone's going to want to know about the young girl who saved her step-brother from a fire." My eyes widened and my mouth fell open.

"A story...in a newspaper?" He nodded. Crap.

"So...your name?"

"Uh...um...Amy. Amy Torres."

"Sounds like you had to think about that there!" He smirked at me, taking down the information.

"And I'm 15."

"Only 15? Wow. I'm impressed." I felt my cheeks flush, although I wasn't quite sure why. "Thanks very much, Amy. And well done." I nodded and turned back to Becca and Adrian, and we walked down the road together.

Hotels lined the streets of London, what with it being the capital city and one of the biggest tourism areas in the world. We chose one that seemed reasonably comfortable and paid for one night, although Adrian was sure we'd need more. We headed up the stairs to our respective rooms, Becca and I sharing a room adjacent to Adrian's. _At least I have my own bed this time_, I thought to myself, sitting on it and pulling my shoes off. Becca sprawled on her own mattress and Adrian busied himself by making us drinks. I denied mine.

"So, what are we going to do?" Adrian questioned for the second time that night. There were so many questions that needed answering, or at least there were in my mind. What had started the fire? Who was the masked attacker on the balcony and what did they want with us? Where were we going to do now? What if somebody saw my name in the newspaper?

"I don't know, Adrian," I sighed. "Can't we just leave it until morning? I'm exhausted." It was about midnight, and after that adventure, I was almost ready to collapse. He nodded.

"Just one thing, really quickly, I promise." He placed his hands on my leg and closed his eyes, letting the magic flow from him to me. I relaxed my muscles, my eyes falling shut as the cuts and scrapes I'd received healed and my leg righted itself. He couldn't do anything about my singed hair, which was now waist-length in some areas and shoulder-length in others, but I was grateful anyway. Maybe I could pretend I'd gotten it layered. Maybe it would look better in the morning. I wasn't too bothered with my appearance anyway.

Adrian leaned over and kissed Becca softly, before wrapping me up in a hug. I hung my arms limply on my shoulder, not exactly sure where to put them, and then he let me go, whispering, "Goodnight," to both of us before shutting our door and heading to his own room. Becca turned on her side and curled up, facing the wall, asleep already.

However, for all my exhaustion, I couldn't sleep at all. My brain was whirring with questions, images flashing through my mind; the blazing fire burned into my retinas, the image of Adrian's shocked face when I crawled towards him amongst the embers, the sinking feeling of my stomach curling when I thought I was going to fall.

What was I going to do now? It wasn't safe here. That was twice that somebody had nearly killed me. I'd been pushed into the Thames, I was sure of it. And now, who had set off the fire? If it wasn't Becca, and it wasn't Adrian, and it wasn't me, then who was it? It had started in our apartment. And the mysterious attacker trying to throw us off? Who was that?

Maybe I was just unlucky. Maybe I was just a trouble-magnet, bringing my bad luck to everyone near me. I couldn't stay here. I had to get out. I'd been considering it for ages, but now I knew what I had to do. I wasn't meant for this.

I crawled out of bed and checked the clock beside me. The face read 01.34. I nodded to myself and snatched my bag from the corner of the room, silently rifling through to check what I had in there. I'd gone to bed in the clothes I'd been wearing, having forgotten to bring pyjamas, and I smoothed down my shirt and brushed down my jeans before slowly picking my way to the door.

But, unfortunately, I made the mistake of turning back towards Becca. Maybe it was out of sentiment, just taking one last look at the life I'd been living for the past couple of months. Maybe I was being a good novice and checking to see if I was leaving her in danger. Whichever it was, it led to the creaking of the floorboards underneath me. I cursed to myself as Becca shifted in bed, but she didn't make any noise. I took one my step and cracked open the door.

"Amy?" Becca's sleepy voice called. "What are you doing?" I didn't reply, and she sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. "Where are you going?" I swallowed.

"Just go back to sleep, alright?" I told her softly.

"You can't leave again." There was a pause about the length of a heartbeat when I considered her words. "You can't do it again. Where will you go?"

"I'll find somewhere. I managed it before."

"Amy, don't go. Please."

"Becca, I have to. I don't belong here."

"Then...let me come with you." I gaped at her, something I was doing a lot of recently.

"Come with me?"

"I want to get out. I want to do something with my life. Let me come with you in whatever you're doing. We could go Strigoi hunting together!" Any progress she may have made in convincing me to let her come fell apart.

"No way. I'm not letting you near any Strigoi."

"_Please_. I heard the stories about...about your sister and that Ozera kid. When the Academy was attacked a couple of years ago. They killed so many Strigoi. We could do that. The pair of us. We make a good team, Amy, and you know it."

"Make a good team? How would you know that? All we've ever done is go to school and argue!"

"Amy, please, just try me. I'm begging you, please let me get out of here." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Fine," I muttered. Her face lit up. "But there will be rules. And you must follow them _at all times_. You have to listen to me. I'm not sure what we're going to be doing, but if we come across any Strigoi, we need to be prepared." She nodded and crawled out of bed, padding towards the bathroom and quickly arranging herself. She hadn't managed to take any of her supplies out of the apartment, so she'd end up borrowing mine until we got her some new ones. However, when I'd made our beds and was waiting by the door for her, she shoved her hands in her pocket and pulled out a shiny credit card, grinning at me. My eyes widened.

"It's Adrian's," she told me. "I know the password. He lets me use it whenever I want."

"Does he have a tracking system on it?" I asked. "We don't want him following us."

"No." But I noticed her face fall.

"Becca, you do understand that Adrian isn't coming, don't you?"

"Yes." Her voice was glum, a frown marring her face.

"We can't contact him. I'm leaving to get away from this life. If he comes it'll start over again. Call me selfish, but I left for me, and letting you come along is a big risk. One slip-up and you're coming back here, okay?"

"Yes."

"Listen, I know it's hard, leaving him. Trust me. But you will see him again, I promise. If you're desperate enough for this, you'll be strong enough to leave."

"Yes." Her voice seemed stronger this time, and I patted her shoulder awkwardly. She gave me an odd look and I let my arm fall, instead focussing on getting out of the room quietly. Adrian might be asleep, but if he wasn't, he could sense our auras and tell where we were. Damn spirit users.

But, thankfully, we managed to make it down to the lobby without a hitch, and we snuck out past the main desk, the receptionist asleep on a pile of papers. It was a 24/7 hotel, but nobody came in at this early hour.

When we reached fresh air, we stood by a taxi rank and leaned against the wall.

"Now what?" Becca wondered. I smirked to myself. I had an idea.


	24. Chapter 24 Taxi

**I was listening to Beat It (the Fall Out Boy version) whilst writing this. Thanks for reading :)**

_You have to show them that you're really not scared _

_You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare _

_They'll kick you, then they beat you, _

_Then they'll tell you it's fair_

_So beat it, but you wanna be bad_

"Are you _nuts_?" Becca asked, a horrified look on her face. I shrugged.

"Maybe I am," I allowed. "But I'm also clever and, not to boost my own ego or anything, quite capable of handling myself. I was trained by the best, after all." I winked at nobody in particular and she sighed, still unwilling to go along with my crazy plan. I held my hand out into the road, hoping that a taxi would come here. The hotel was on a main road, as hotels usually are, but even London wasn't as bustling as usual at two in the morning.

"Nothing's going to come," Becca muttered grumpily to herself. "You won't get one and, even if you do, it won't work. It's a bad idea." I ignored her, still holding my arm out, even though it was getting a bit heavy and tired. I'd need to get some sleep eventually. I'd never particularly liked sleep, even before my schedule got mixed up with strange nocturnal activity and extra training sessions.

And then, like a light shining down from heaven, car headlights came towards and paused where we stood. A man sat in the front of the taxi, slight stubble covering his chin and narrow brown eyes scanning us.

"You girls want a ride?" he inquired in a light Cockney accent. I nodded slowly, unsure of how to make sure there was one and only one meaning in that. "Where to?" I bit my lip. 'Where to' indeed. I had absolutely no idea. Where was far from here? I tried to think of the route my mother used to take when visiting London for the day so that she didn't have to pay too much for parking nor train tickets in a zone too far out.

"Snaresbrook, please," I told him. His eyes widened.

"Wouldn't you girls be better off getting the Tube?" I shrugged at him and began to pull a couple of notes we'd got from the cash machine a few minutes earlier out of my pocket.

"You don't know what sort of characters will be on the Tube at this early hour. We don't want to get mixed up with the wrong crowd." That appeared to be a suitable answer for him. I opened one of the back doors and let Becca in first. She strapped herself into a seat as I handed the money over to the driver and he pulled away from the hotel. Becca pretended that she wasn't staring wistfully back at the hotel by scratching the top of her head, and I pretended that I didn't notice. Instead, I closed my eyes and let my body fill the motion of the car slowly making its way towards Snaresbrook.

"When we're close, you'll have to give me a full address, alrighty?" The driver's voice filtered through into the back and I mumbled an, 'Okay,' hoping we wouldn't get to that point. What was my plan of action? To be honest, I hadn't thought it through much further than this. Maybe deep down I'd been expecting failure, just like Becca. As I thought about this, I was simultaneously trying to think of how his would work. Sifting through the memories of things I'd been taught, I remembered one of my first lessons with Rose. When she'd originally started telling me little tricks that she'd needed but never been taught, instead of actually teaching me how to fight.

_You need to know how to incapacitate somebody without killing them. It won't always be Strigoi you come across._

And she'd taught me all the different ways of knocking somebody out. We'd spent a handful of sessions mapping out pressure points on the body, weak areas that an attacker will naturally go for. She helped me learn how to protect my own sensitive points as well as find them on somebody else. She told me which method was best to use in each situation and exactly what to do. Of course, I hadn't had any practice, as the only people I'd been able to fight seriously were Strigoi, and I'd much rather kill them.

_Well_, I thought to myself. _There's a first time for everything._

The driver was facing straight ahead, the radio playing quietly beside him, a hands-free device blinking at him from the seat. He hummed to himself, focussed on getting to our destination. He seemed like a nice guy; better than other cabbies I'd met, anyway. My conscience screamed at me-and it doesn't do that often because of the following reason-and I ignored it. I had to do this. There was no other option.

I watched out the window until we got to a fairly deserted road. I would do my best to do this quickly, smoothly and not injure anybody. Hopefully. I swivelled around in my seat and felt the weight of Becca's gaze on my back. Everything rested on this. If I failed, we'd be in trouble. My arms reached around the head of the seat and I took a deep breath before closing my hands around the driver's neck. He panicked automatically, and I wondered what thoughts were skittering around in his head right now. Was he surprised that a 15 year old girl who looked too harmless to hurt a fly was possibly going to kill him? Probably. But I didn't plan to kill him. I just needed him out of the equation.

The car sped up as his muscles tensed and he shoved his foot down on the accelerator. A strangled noise came out of his throat but I kept my hands there, desperate to finish the job. There was no going back now. If he was let loose, he'd definitely go to the police. That was _not_ what we wanted.

And, after a couple of agonising seconds, he fell limp. I immediately released my grip, his head lolling forward, and crawled into the seat beside him clumsily. The car had stopped when his body stopped tensing, and we'd skidded to a halt in the middle of the road. After quickly checking the man's pulse and breathing-both of which were vital-I hauled him into the back of the car. Becca strapped him into one of the seats so he wouldn't roll loose before scrambling into front. I switched to the driver's seat and strapped myself in. Becca gave me a wary look as I placed my hands on the steering wheel.

"Have you ever driven a car before?" she asked tentatively. For a split second, my mind flashed back to last summer.

_"Where are we going?" _

_"As far away from here as possible."_

_"Have you ever driven a car before?"_

_"Nope."_

I had a different answer this time although, admittedly, it wasn't very preferable.

"Sorta," I laughed nervously, placing my feet in the correct positions on the pedals. Slowly, I inched my foot down on the accelerator and the car slid forward at a decent speed. I placed my foot on the brake and it stopped. I had no idea how to use the gear stick, and I had a feeling I would struggle looking in the mirrors and driving at the same time but, _oh well._

I stole the cabbie's hat and rested it on my own head, doing my best to sit up in my seat and look taller. I was about average height now so, as long as I didn't look into anybody's face, they would never suspect that I was 15. I started the car again and we made our way out onto the main road again, Becca clutching her seat. I thanked some higher power for the clearer roads that early hours bring. It meant less people to watch my failure.

We'd already made it out of main London anyway, and we trailing around the outskirts. We drove past Snaresbrook, not bothering to stop there, and I increased the speed a little bit more. As soon as we were free of London's boundaries and onto the motorway, I opened the taxi window and took the hat off, handing it to Becca, who threw it into the back seat. I turned the radio up a little more and laughed, out of nowhere, simply at the idiocy of what we'd done. Becca joined me, and the pair of us cackled manically as we sped back towards Essex.

**Anyone else missing Lewis? Or is it just me?**


	25. Chapter 25 Apology

**Have you seen that new option to upload pictures? Once it's working properly, depending on how good the feature is, I'll probably delete that crappy little website thingee I made and just link you to the playlist (not that anybody really bothers with them)**

**Oh, and, on a little side note, I was watching the pageant for the Queen's Jubilee on TV and saw the flats that our characters were living in. Looks like they aren't on fire in real life ;)**

I didn't have a plan. Of course I didn't have a plan.

I'd thought I'd become a little more mature over the past six months, and, in a sense, I was correct. Living like this had hardened me. I'd never had it particularly easy, but I'd never had to completely fend for myself before. I'd always had somebody there doing it for me, watching me back and cleaning up after me if I slipped. Living in London, I was the only person keeping us three alive. It was just a magic stroke of luck that nothing had happened to us. Don't think I take that for granted. There just wasn't much time to contemplate it.

But, on the other hand, I'd also become more reckless. I'd always been a rash person at heart, but before going to the Academy, I'd been far too polite to ever do anything. I'd been raised to be slightly submissive, able to get my point across when necessary but never saying too much for fear of getting into trouble. Trouble had always frightened me. The slightest scolding and I'd feel the waves of shame carrying me away from the safe harbour and still waters I preferred to reside in. Yet I'd found myself become increasingly braver as I grew up. Sure, I wasn't fearless. Heights scared me until I lost my wits and there were many other things I was afraid of; some pointless, but most completely worth the worry. However, in London, I'd lost all pretences of normality and just went with my heart.

It was a new experience, following my gut. I'd trained myself to listen to my brain, and a balance between the two was imperative in the profession that Rose had been training me for. But completely going with my first decision was all new. I felt a thrill, a jolt in my veins, every time I was able to make this decision for myself. Maybe it was linked to my insatiable wanderlust, only recently discovered. I'd never moved before the Academy. I'd lived in the same house all 13 years of my life. But experiencing America and this whole new world made me crave a change. I got bored of everyday life, and I realised that I wanted to see how other people lived. Money had always been tight with my family, and the only holidays I'd ever been on abroad were the handful of trips to Europe with the school, where most of the days were taken up with working.

I thought of all the places I wanted to visit. LA, Berlin, St Petersburg, Rome...

But I'm rambling now. Maybe I'm trying to explain to you that what I chose to do may not have been entirely in our best interests, nor was it a particularly good idea. At the time I felt like a criminal mastermind, a superhero of sorts. I thought it was the only option. If I'd slept that night, discussed the possibility with Adrian, we could've migrated to a small town to attract less attention and just move somewhere where the guardians would never think to look, and neither would the Strigoi. We could've integrated ourselves into society, knowing which paths to take and learning from our failures the first time around.

But I didn't. Becca and I ran away from London in the early hours of the morning, laughing as the wind whipped our hair, carrying our giggles into the night. We felt like stereotypical rebellious teenagers, forgetting the weight of our own beings on our backs, the problems we brought on ourselves simply for being who we were. We were free, and nothing mattered anymore.

I'll tell you now, so that you can learn for yourself, that everything is too good to last.

**Third Person**

The man woke up and blinked, bleary-eyed, staring at the scene around him. There wasn't much to take in, yet his eyes widened in shock and his heart thundered against his ribcage as he realised he had absolutely no idea where he was. The sun blinded him briefly and he squinted against it, sitting up and leaning on one elbow. He was in a field, one which would be filled with rapeseed in the summer, but was simply dewy grass on this cold winter morning. The air was freezing, and he wished he had a jacket near him, but he'd left it in the car.

_The car!_

The man scrambled to his feet, stretching up on his tiptoes and peering around. There wasn't a sign of civilisation for miles. Where even was he? He tried to remember what had happened last night. Did he go out with friends and pass out, drunk, in the field? No. His friends were nice. They wouldn't have left him there. He was at work. He was serving clients. He was...

He was driving those two teenage girls to Snaresbrook. He remembered it only dimly, the over confident girl with the long brown hair and her tall blonde friend, both of them looking a little worse for wear, yet he'd chosen not to comment on it. Yet why couldn't he remember anything after fifteen minutes of driving? Why couldn't he remember dropping them off at Snaresbrook?

The answer hit him almost immediately.

He didn't.

He never got to drop them off. The girls must've hijacked his taxi! He patted his pockets and found them empty, having left his mobile in the taxi along with everything valuable and important for his job. He swore to himself, spitting profanities as he followed the road in some desperate attempt to find a nearby town. He'd have to inform his boss, tell the company what happened. What would they do? Would he lose his job? Where was the taxi now? _Teenage girls_.

He sighed and shook his head.

Never trust a woman.


	26. Chapter 26 Stolen

**Promised an update this week, since it's been so long. I hope I can make it up to you with this.**

After about half an hour of driving, I managed to pull over into the bay on the side of the motorway. I turned off the engine, not wanting to risk the car rolling away by itself, and asked Becca to fetch the manual. She fumbled in the glove box, pulling out a notebook of phone numbers, a packet of mints and a battered instruction manual. I knew it wouldn't have everything I wanted in it because, let's face it, you're not allowed to drive a car without being taught how to, but I was hoping it would have a few helpful 'reminders' to get me started.

I flipped through the book, trying to find the page about switching gears; it was one of the only things I hadn't been able to figure out how to do. When were you supposed to switch? I pored over the monochrome page, soaking up as much information as I possibly could, and Becca and I popped a mint into our mouths. I flipped through a few more pages, trying to get the general gist of the driving, and then twisted the keys. The car brought itself to life, the dashboard blinking with lights and the radio playing softly in the background. I handed the book back to Becca and eased the car out of the bay with Noel Gallagher as our soundtrack.

Using my new gear switching skills, I increased the speed and we flew down the road. Becca and I barely spoke until we reached my home town another half hour later, when she asked,

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" I shook my head, trying to focus on driving so that I didn't ruin my streak of near-perfect turns as we rejoined civilisation. Buildings began to rise up either side of us, and I could see the headlights of other vehicles sweeping the roads relentlessly. "Well, what are we doing, then? Why did we leave London?"

"The question is: why did _you_ leave London?" I retorted. "I left London to find myself, to find a purpose for all this. You followed me. If you're not enjoying yourself, tough tits."

"To 'find yourself'?" Becca laughed bitterly. "What is that even supposed to mean? Don't you dare go all philosophical on me, Amy. You used to be a killing machine." My fist tightened impossibly around the wheel as I swerved to the side of the road, slamming on the brakes heavily. Becca jolted forwards in her seat.

"Don't you _ever_ say something like that again, you hear me?" I seethed, glaring at her. I started to think that maybe it was a terrible idea bringing her along with me after all. How foolish I had been, thinking that we were somewhat friends! "I am _not _a killing machine, nor have I ever intended to be. Yes, I have killed before, but they were _Strigoi. _Undead monsters. I was protecting people. If you can't appreciate that, I might as well just kick you out and leave you to burn in the sun. You don't deserve my help." I felt my face flush with rage as she gaped at me. We turned away from each other, an awkward silence settling between us and, as I began to pull back onto the road without crashing with another car, I could've sworn I had her whisper, "Yeah, right."

I didn't bother replying. However, her words cut deep. I had just proven a point, hadn't I? I'd threatened to leave her to her own devices. I'd nearly broken the rules of the guardians. I'd nearly let her die. All by trying to prove that I only killed the guilty. How ironic.

As we drove on, I tried to think about what I'd planned to do. Essentially, I was just looking for a point to my life that _wasn't_ just killing but, as Becca had just proved, I probably wouldn't be very good at that.

"First things first," I muttered, breaking the ice, "we need to change this car."

**Rose POV**

"Hathaway!" somebody in the corner of the office yelled. "We've got a lead! Get over here!"

It was getting late, twilight was seeping in through the handful of windows, and I hadn't slept for what felt like years. I shuffled over to the guardian waving at me, peering at the computer he was sat in front of. A news article had cropped up on the screen and as I scanned through the text, I felt my mouth fall open. A blurred photo showed a girl hanging from a balcony whilst the windows above her were blown out by fire. She was helping a tall man out of the building. The picture below it showed the same young girl with her feet planted safely on the ground. Most of her face was hidden behind a veil of thick, dark hair, but I could see the curve of her nose and the slight glint of an eye. She was identified as an 'Amy Torres'.

My heart clenched as I took in the picture. She'd saved someone. She was out there acting as a vigilante hero, my younger sister. Why hadn't I thought of doing something like that? Not to say that I wasn't worried about her safety, because I was absolutely terrified, but I was just in awe at her decision.

"That's her," I confirmed, my throat dry. "It has to be."

"Amy Hathaway identified and located!" the guardian yelled, and all the other heads in the room swivelled around to see him. "She was in London last night with a supposed step-brother and step-sister, saved them from a fire. Looks like she was trying to integrate herself or something, but she wasn't exactly keeping her abilities a secret. Not sure where she's gone to now, but it was only a handful of hours ago, so I doubt she's got up to much since then."

"We need to send a group out to try and fetch her. I'll be head of the operation, but I'm going to need a couple of you to come with me. You never know what we'll come up against. And she's quite the feisty one."

"We can't take too many people, otherwise the Academy will be unguarded," somebody piped up with.

"I know. Dimitri will stay here and take my job looking after Lis-Princess Dragomir, and I'll only need three of you at the most. Hands up for volunteers."

Guardians were selected and rushed off to swiftly pack bags. We needed to leave as soon as possible, as it would have been roughly twelve hours since the accident by the time we landed in London, if not more. We wanted to be as close on her tail as we could be.

Just as we were about to leave, I popped my head back into the office and asked,

"No news on that Rebecca girl, no?" The guardians shook their heads sadly and I nodded at them, heading out to drag my sister back where she belonged.

**Amy POV**

I located the local 24 hour Tesco, pulling in to the car park sloppily due to the lack of cars at this early hour, and switched off the engine. Cold air rushed in through the open door, the heat fading quickly out of the car. Becca and I scanned the seats for anything that might identify us and shoved any useful items in our pockets. I gave the wheel and dashboard a quick wipe, hoping to mask our fingerprints for as long as it would take the police to find the taxi and, miraculously, find us.

I shoved my hands deep into my jumper pockets, the cold even making me shiver as we left the car in the parking area and walked back to my old house. Following the roads brought back too many memories for me to cope with; rushing home with my friends so we wouldn't miss Doctor Who, learning to cycle in the alleyway during the day, meeting Rose and Dimitri after being attacked and, finally, the time that Lewis met my mother. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to distract myself with finding my keys in my bag.

When we reached the house, I ordered Becca to remain outside, and softly twisted the keys in the door. This was the second time I'd broken into my own home and I felt just as stupid as I had the first time. I slipped into the porch, knowing that nobody would be up at this time, and carefully closed the door behind me. Staying ever so quiet, I tiptoed into the kitchen where my mother kept her keys. I was about to turn into the living room when I saw light flickering against the wall through the gap in the door and heard a dull chatter. What was my Mum doing up at four in the morning?

I eased her car keys into my deep pocket and pulled a pencil from the case on the sideboard. Scrawling out a quick note, I pinned it to the fridge with a magnet. As I crept back towards the door, I accidentally stood on a creaky floorboard that definitely hadn't been there last time.

"Sam? Is that you?" my mother called. I bit my lip, refusing to breath out as I inched closer to the porch. I heard the sounds of my mother getting up off the sofa and swore internally. If she caught me now, everything would be over. Everything.

I managed to leave the house just in time and jogged around the corner, the keys jostling in my pocket, to meet Becca. After five minutes of patient waiting, during which I assured myself that Mum would have gone back to watching TV, I unlocked the car door and slid into the driver's seat. It felt bizarre, sitting where Mum would usually sit and, as I checked the glovebox, I realised that nothing had really changed at all. She still listened to the same old CDs, Sam still brought his LEGO on long journeys and left it on the seats, she still took a flask of coffee to work. For some reason, I felt my face fall.

Ignoring my wistful emotions, I reversed out of the driveway and rode off towards the main road before she could peek out of the curtains. This really _was_ the last time I'd ever come here. For definite this time.

**Mary's POV**

Hearing a car outside, I got up from the sofa again and scowled. Nobody ever came by at this hour. For the first week, I'd counted the cars going past in each night and had never reached ten. After those first painful days, I stopped counting. I wasn't getting any news, and neither were they.

I peered out of the window, watching a car swerve around the corner, and sighed to myself. I shuffled to the kitchen to make myself a cup of early morning tea and, as I pulled the fridge door open to fetch the milk, a bright pink post-it note caught my eye. Frowning, I pulled it off the surface and held it up to the light.

_Mum_

_I'm sorry. Please forgive me._

_X_

The writing was neater than Sam's but still a scrawly, nearly illegible mess that I would recognise everywhere. I felt my eyes brim with tears as I read and re-read the note that my daughter had left me. Was that her I'd heard out in the hallway when I hadn't bothered to get up and check? Had I missed her by a mere five minutes?

Why did you leave, Amy? Ever since the guardians contacted me to say that you were missing, I'd been worried sick. I never received any news from you; I didn't even know if you were alive! How was I supposed to go through with daily life without knowing that my daughter was safe and well, without the weekly updates the Academy sent me about your progress without informing you?

A strange sense of dread filled me as your words finally sunk in, and I rushed to the front door. If you'd just been here, maybe I could catch up with you! Maybe I could chase after you! However, as I flung the door open, I noticed the lack of a shiny, red vehicle parked in my driveway.

_I'm sorry. Please forgive me. _

"Oh, Amy," I whispered softly to myself. "Why do you do these things?"

**Bulletproof Heart- My Chemical Romance**


	27. Chapter 27 Coast

"Where are we going now?" Becca asked me after a long stretch of silence. The world sped by beside us, the rising sun chasing the car as we distanced ourselves from the town.

"We're going..."I began to say, pausing to collect my thoughts that were scattered after the time I'd had to myself. "We're going to find some Strigoi." Her face lit up automatically.

"Seriously?" she squealed. I nodded, training my eyes on the road. I was still terrible at driving, and there were a few more cars on the motorway now that it was getting closer to acceptable times. People would be commuting to their jobs sooner or later, and we needed to be away before I caused any unnecessary accidents. I saw a fluorescent sign fly past and indicated, intending to take off down the junction.

"We need to at least be useful. If we go an eliminate some of them, then we'll be doing good, right?" She shrugged and bit her lip.

"Amy?"

"Yes?"

"Are we really going to fight Strigoi?" I gave her a sidelong glance.

"Don't tell me you're scared now."

"Well, I...I mean, yeah. I'm not regretting this, because I'm really excited, I promise! But, I-what if I'm not good enough?" I sighed running a hand through my hair. The car swerved as my grasp on the steering wheel wavered, and I immediately replaced it.

"Becca, you'll be absolutely fine, I'm sure. I'll have your back the whole time, I swear to you. I will never leave you unprotected." I stared at her whilst I said this, able to see my own reflection in her pale eyes, and she nodded.

"Okay." She didn't sound too reassured, but I dropped the subject anyway, needing to focus as we reached the city. There was another pause for a few moments as Becca watched the city appearing through her window. High-rise buildings grew in size as we drove past, other cars joining us on the long stretch of road and whizzing past. I kept it slow and steady, knowing the consequences that would follow reckless actions.

"Where are we?" Becca's voice shattered the silence, and I nearly leapt out of my seat.

"We're coming up to Brighton," I replied. "Can you see the beach yet?" She peered out of the window, leaning behind me to catch a glimpse of the coast, before shaking her head. "You'll see it in a few minutes."

"What is there here?"

"As bizarre as this would sound in any other situation, I'm hoping there will be a lot of Strigoi here." Brighton was known for its nightlife, but also famous for gang crime. I figured that many of the incidents were caused by Strigoi, unbeknownst to the human police forces. This would certainly be a place for us to get some good catches.

"Oh! There it is!" Sure enough, down a few side roads I could see the sea, my view hazy due to the early morning fog. I felt excitement flicker in the pit of my stomach as I realised our possibilities here. We were going to find some Strigoi, no matter what it took.

And, maybe, this would quell my thirst for a bit of violence. Because, as much as I hated to admit it, the passive life didn't suit me.

When we reached the centre of town, I found an empty side road and parked the car there. I felt a bit guilty as I stared at it, knowing my mother would be going berserk, but hoping that she had reported the missing vehicle. That way, if it was found, it would be returned safely. I wiped the dashboard and seats with a cloth, removing all evidence of us being there, locked the keys away in the glovebox and slammed the door shut.

"Goodbye," I murmured, bidding farewell to the last sight of my past life.

We started to amble along the road. I had my hands jammed in my pockets, one curled around the stake I kept there. The sun was in the sky now; although it was covered by the early morning fog, I doubted any Strigoi would brave being outside.

We headed towards the edges of town where I knew a hotel would be. We stumbled upon one almost immediately, and I grinned at my knowledge of typical coastal towns. It was a cheap place, like one of the commercial hotels that didn't get as much advertisement as the rest that everybody knew about. The walls were off-white, and the light up sign claiming the place to be a 'Holiday Inn' had a letter missing from it. You could see where the letter had originally been, the rest of the wall around it stained by the smoke in the air. I sighed and Becca screwed up her nose.

"Really? Here?" she asked me. I shrugged at her.

"Where else?" She fumbled in her pockets and brought out Adrian's credit card, spinning it around in her hands.

"We could go anywhere we wanted." I shook my head.

"We have to keep a low profile. We can't be using too much of Adrian's money, or he'll get even more suspicious. Don't worry, though- we won't be staying here long."

We pushed through the doors into the main foyer, heading up to the desk. Becca, looking the oldest out of the pair of us, ordered a double room for us and handed over the card. The woman behind the counter looked exhausted, her make-up not as bright as it probably should have been, the lines around her eyes more prominent and showing her age. She led us to the stairs with a wary look and we thanked her before jogging up to our room.

The room was, thankfully, clean and fairly fresh. Becca immediately collapsed onto one of the beds, burying her face in the pillow. I dumped my bag in the corner and ducked into the bathroom, which was also good enough for our purposes. I splashed my face with the cold water, the lack of sleep starting to get to me. I realised I'd been on my feet for nearly two whole days now; in this one past day, I'd saved Adrian from a burning block of apartments, knocked out a cab driver and driven off in his car, stolen my Mum's car and travelled all the way to Brighton with a Moroi as my companion. It almost seemed too much like an action movie to be true, and also the most foolish thing I'd ever done. Still, the thrills of the day were still thrumming in my veins, and I knew I would be kept on my feet for the next few hours at least.

When I returned from the bathroom, Becca was fast asleep on the bed. I rolled my eyes, draping the blanket over her prone form. I pulled my bag up from the floor and sat on my own bed, my legs crossed underneath me. Tipping out the contents onto the generic cream duvet, I turned them over in my hands one by one. We were living on these items now- Adrian's credit card didn't count, because I would only allow myself to use it in small doses.

A piece of glossy paper caught my eye, and I picked it up, only to drop it again in shock. It had been a few weeks since I'd seen the figure of Lewis, having been too distracted with escape plans and worried about Adrian's previous suggestion. In fact, though I was ashamed to admit it, I had almost forgotten about him.

The picture was a startling reminder of what I had truly left behind. I saw us together, sat in the Academy with our arms around each other, and sighed wistfully. What had I been thinking, giving that up? I'd had some of the happiest moments of my life with him, had never felt more loved, more cherished than when I was in his arms. I didn't doubt for a second that he loved me.

I had to constantly remind myself of what I had left. I hadn't left because I was happy with him, but because I was unhappy with the journey my life was taking. If I had to sacrifice a potentially perfect relationship for my own freedom, then that was what I would do. I would not allow anything to stop me from being the person I wanted to be, not who they wanted me to become.

I was not one of their products.

Although I couldn't help but begin to doubt myself, wondering whether this had been a good idea in the first place.

3rd Person POV

The boy with the flaxen hair sat on the stool and cradled the acoustic guitar in his arms, strumming out a mournful tune. He held it like he would've held her if he could, with as much tenderness as his heart was able to hold. He was gentle, he was soft, he was brimming over with love and longing, and the guitar sang along with him as he hummed.

Rich tones filled the air as he began to sing along, his fingers absentmindedly picking out harmonies as he let his mind fill with images of her. Over half a year, it had been. He'd lost her over half a year ago, but he still couldn't let her go. He still couldn't get the image of her out of his head, her smile, the sound of her giggling, the sheer force of her strength when she was determined; they all made her up into the girl he knew.

Perhaps, next time he saw her, she would be a woman.

He didn't doubt that he would see her again. He would go and find her if it came to that. She wouldn't escape his grasp that easily, not when he was free from the school and ready to traverse the world for her. There was the possibility that she had forgotten him, wouldn't want him- he had considered that. He had also mused over the possibility that she had never loved him, never cared for him as much as he did for her.

But he didn't mind. The separation was tearing him apart.

The sound of the door creaking open distracted him from the music, and he paused in his tracks, raising his head to meet the newcomer's eyes. Pale jade stared back at him with a wistful smile, and she slipped down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I miss her too, you know."

"Of course I know," he replies stiffly, but he doesn't believe it could possibly be as heart-wrenching for her as it is for him.

"You can't keep everything to yourself about this. You need to talk to someone, let your feelings out. I know how you're feeling."

"You don't."

She ran her hands through her long auburn curls and rubbed her eyes.

"Fine, I don't. But...listen. I've had an idea." He raises an eyebrow with a look of interest, curious as to what she would have to say. They'd both been silent for the past six months. "I want to go and find her."

"They've already tried that. Rose left this morning."

"But we could try, Lewis! We could go and look for her ourselves! Can you imagine if we found her? I bet you'd be able to convince her to come home more than the guardians ever would." He mumbled something to himself and hung his head, staring intently at the nylon strings.

"I don't think it would work." He remained unresponsive, continuing his solo performance. The girl sat beside him got up, the stool shifting after her weight had been removed, and left the room. He let out a deep sigh, the sound audible over the chords, and rearranged his own hair.

Yes, he had been intrigued. Yes, he definitely did find the idea of sneaking out to find her themselves exciting, albeit terrifying.

He just didn't think he was ready for it.


End file.
